-a-

DERBYSHIRE MISCETTANY

Vol.V Part 4

COI\IIETVIS

Lead Smelting Boles in Derbyshireby Nellie Kirkl:an

Sone Church Wardens Accounts - Denbyby F. S. 0gden ..

fr:rnpike Roadsby Robert Thornhill ..

Some Notes on To11 Sars and Turnplke Roadsby W. H. Bridghouse .

&utunn 1970

Page No.

191

t97

19E

204

2gT

2L2

2L7

224

229

258

240

244

Young Stephen 3e11otby M. A. Bellhouse

John Wieley of I'Iigwell (concluded)by Derek A. Wigley

Notes and Q*eries .

Seetion News ..

Book News ..

A Journeyman Cordwainer Falls on EviI Daysby F. S. Ogd.en ..

A Boom Co11iery in the Boer War ?eriod.by A. R. Grlffin ..

Itlrs. Delany, an 18th Century Visitor to Derbyshj-reby Ne1l Thonas .. o. .. ..

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IDITCMS

Itrs. A, .A. Nixon,Southled;'Eazlewood Road,Duffield,.Derby DE6 4AA

)(.'\

sfrfin,

, Hrea$,lvsyr,,,,. .- r.

h,Eb{, q+5'1Ati

,;ut':'U-l:H.:' ' " frddbierh

After this year I do not e:qreet to be spentling as rnreh time i+ De1llyshi.peas previbusly. "I grdatly regrdt, tlierefcire,'that'it will not'be bbdsibid '

for me..to- continue as Editor of the Miscellany. This bri:rgs to an ef]*,,",fo;Ertpenyears df 'Lctive'assoefaticiri witli the"loedl tridtory'siectidn if 'trr"'So;iety."'"''Forbunately, subject to confirmation, Miss Joan Sinar, the County Archivist,has volunteered to take my plaee so that from now on she will join ltr. VictorSnith as co-editor.

I wish to take this opportunity of thanking aII those who througb theyears have contributed. to Miscellany, those who have supported the ventureby their subscriptions and those who made that venture possible in itsearly days by their anonymous donations and help in many ways.

The first i.ssue of Miscellany appeared in February 1956, and fivevoh:mes are coupleted with this number. In addition there have been elevensupplementary publications on a wide range of subjects. The flow ofcontributions has been steadily naintained, and. the articles have made amost valuable adilition to the hlstory of the County.

Thank you aIl for your help and encouragernent.

.r,., j1;.;1,:.', i iti itri;i,)ll

.li i. ..:

. :';.,', .lr ,

Amy A. Ni*on

-19r-

LEAD ST{ELT]NG BOTES IN DERBYSI{IRE

by

Nellie Kirldran

In Derbyshire and elsewhere fron Roman tines lead smeltlng took plaeein boLes situated on hi1ltops. These'were cirorlar hollo',rs about 5 ft.in dianeter, surrounded by a stone wal1 about 2 tt. high, with a hole forthe d.rar.rght facing the prevailing wind, west or south-west in this county.For the fire, only wood, called great wood, and bmshwood, were used. Wood

and. ore were plaeed in alternate layers. The lead flowed out through ahole at the bottom, along a short channel into a bowl-shaped hollow. Beforethe end of the sixteenth century sometimes a foot-b1ast, working two bellows,was used. Two men stood with one foot on each of the beLlows. treadingthem down alternately.

Boles were used throughout the mediaeval period, and stil1 persisted.in Derbyshire up to the seventeenth century, years after the introductionof the smelti-ng hearth. (1)

This roasting of the ore was only partially efficient in extractingthe metal, the resulting lead was soft and impure but this was not consideredto be detrimental. fPeak l,ead r was specially praised^, and was nuch ind.emand in nediaeval times. Rieh s1ag, cal1ed blaclorork, was left.

In 1515 the Court Ro1ls of the manor of Holmesfield nentioned thatRoger Elrre and his brother John were intending to erect two boles, withrsmeltyng Ovenzr, upon a hill. The Victoria County History aecepts thatthese ovens refer to the re-smelting of slag from the boles. An illustrationin Agricola in 1556 shows the ore beirrg burnt with wood in open trouglrs,arid also in a rorrnd, walled, small enclosure with a domed top, which hecalled an oven-shaped furnace. It can be accepted., as most authoritiesd"o, that boles were open at the top, in which case one can suggest that theseoven-shaped ones nay be therSmeltyng Ovenzr for re-sroolting the blaelsrlork.Charcoal was used in Derbyshire for iron snelting by the fourteenttr n.e-r!trrr:'r,

so probably eharcoal was used in the early s1.ag-sure1-tir\g ovens, just as itwas in the later slag hearths. The open topped bo1e, using wocd, wouldproduce less heat, while smelting in the oven d.evelops greater heat,resulting in a harder lead, which they said was i-rrferior, and '*hich was

called sias-read. (2)

It eould be suggested that the word Bollstead.s (Boolstids, boolis)perhaps refers to the slag smelting ovens. In 1518 Thomas Babbilgton ofDethick left all his boolis as well as his boles at Rlber, Ashover arrd

other places, statirg there uas blael$ork to be snelted, arrd ruuch of hjsstandi:rg and growing woods were to be used, with charcoal alread,y nade

-'t 02-

Ito burn the said bolIes ore...and. to smelt the blackwork and sIagt.(r)

Most of the sites of boles are outside the areas in which I can do fieldwork,the only ones which I have seen are patches of rather bare ground, on whichgrass was hardly, if at all, growing. The site would not be acceptable unlessslag could be picked up, some with sna11 bits of read in it, but mostry alightish grey and light in weight. l{any sites will have the advantage tothe walker of being open 1one1y hi11tops. As with all else they are probablydisappearing, but if a nunber of people, each living near one or more boles,investigated. the sites, we could collect a record of boles in Derbyshire.

A document of 1581 when mentioning some boles on a hilltop, refers torold Sinder heapes. in a Valley ad.ioying there unto wtch have rema5med of theold Boolinget. It was new to ne that one eou1d. look for renains of bolesmelting, not just round the bole but in a val1ey nearby. This seemed apoint to hand on to anybody who becomes interested in hr:nting for boles.

39UEI Burton Bole a point on northern bowrdary of Abney, t1t7. (SK/fgl.aOg).

$,DERIdASIEY (st</lts,|Da) Tn t55i in his wirl anthony Lowe left his rbooLbolestid and smeltingr. Unlocated.

ATPORT-BY-YOULGREAVE (sN/zzt.6+5) mre t1}ots, I,.Iirliam de Bj-rchover, and,Robert Holland. Unlocated.

As{FoRp Atrp stiEtDoN_EoIJNDARy, (r). nor" (approximatery sK/r49. 681).Sr{ti5.OZg).' I found pieees of slag.

must have been a foot-blast urilI. Both on Senior map 161?.

ASIILEYI]EY (rn areu) Alport Hil1, (Slr/lO+.516). Archaeologieal investigationsrevealed pieces of sandstone which had been exposed to great heat. [here isno further evi-dence that there was a bore here, but there is an as yetunproved possible site about half a mile west of the hil}. There is Bolehi1lon Greenwood, map lBrO, to north of Alport HilI (approxiurately SVfOe.52d,Doubtful position, on a northern slope. cinder llirrock (cameron) unlocated..

ASIIOVER. Sites of boles larown 1722. (f) a*U"" lane Head at Amber IIiII"G-pp-rc-*i* tety sl</1zs .6:25). (, ) inrtopl '

( il;;;.i;i"iv-sri'i+i jlioll--' '(l) Top of t}e I{ay (sV155.608). (4') windmilt Hilt, near cord l{arbour.Slag Hills (sVlq|.596). Thomas Babbington had a bole in 1518.

AUIT ALL (@,</rcs.lo5) sotehj-Il (c), unlocated.

BAI.'IrFORD (SX/ZOa.W5) gol_e Low, unlocated.

SARLBoRoUGH (sx/qgS.ll7) Sinaerhitt (C), unlocated.

BARLoq. 3o1ehi11 (stilTqJqe).

Unlocated.It

Stone of 3 coursesStone of 3 courses fallen

Gap

\l{l

Fallen wall

arrrl,l,,l ttr\

*rrltle

rt it tl//%---

\\\l\ I:

l-tl I r.'/ I -.,r, { ,rr

? Pig bed

G ap

*( f,a

v4?

Slag bed Clay & scoria C lay

BOLE DISCOVIHID AT l!r'iTlnil{i;5, i,!"p-}-,}}4},i..

Reproducetl by the kirui pernission of i:r. j.rti,ur Rarstrrck.

-'l o?-

3$lg,l. (t) l+.r.ct'en Ec.ge Bole, I found s1as. @r./zat.lzS). (f ) sasrornEG; B"i"'1sr.,/zso,i+:). (l) tnr"e boles below Raven's Rock (sr/zer"72i).(+) rcru (s</z>0.?28). Bore Low, unrocated. Boules Hill Piece (c),unlocateci.-(:ee Calver). [he Lord de Vernon had ]rd. part of boles on tireCon:lr:r inid. 14i;l: century. Thurstan del Boure of Ticleswell had boles inlnZ. Wr11ia:r del Huklow burnt lead ore on the Common for del Bo'arewithout liceirce. Tn 1792 Henry ",:d Ralph de1 l,itton, and Roger delWornhill had a licence for boles.

-BEIP Gx/l+g.4?6) ci-naerhill (c), rintocated.

3E.$jg/EB $xlzla.622) Booleflatt (c), unrocated.

!?tjQa\E& Gx/qq.?04) aore, Appleton Close (C), unlocated.

.$-lgP]qr. (r) sore on Fuddingpie HilI (s</1tt ?14). (e) ror"i,il(ri(/115.702). Si:rderhill llth century (C). In 1581 mention of Ral-i:hIlolthcoters old boles on Brampton Hi11.

${3YEts (or Baslow) on.boirndary, above Bank llood. h L412 and l59B rboiein uore edge topper. (very approximately 31</234.712). Unlocated..

g/.nq$qrc.ry., 0r,rsIow. Pig of 1ead, query Roman, no usuaL inscription, warpedsl:',;c, impure lead at bottom, purer on top. Roman pottery etc. fo-r,.ii.(sr:/ryA"fi4). At 100 ft. higher ccntour suitable for bofe, none loca'Led.

CI{ADDEPIU (w/llo.llo), Sinderlands or sind.er Low (c) unfocated.Signs of suelting have been found on the west side, at Derby Race Cou:r:se.

gEl.PlEt-Eriv-tE-r'RITg (sly'oOo.aoa) gotehitt Clough (c), untocated"

Snl0ETi{ Bole , Old Park Plantation, S4/e66a@aw. Ea.:'b&9}ed. Ii:.'1,,,:,.i,Ph.i.lj.p l,eche of Chatsworth was selling lead rbool weightr, urrdertak-',ng torblock and brendf it.

CHNS..I'MJ,IELD (See Srappton, and Holymoor Top).

CO,,Gn\0H (sx/212.416). Le bo1le tl95 (c), unlocated..

grelp-qq In 1766 a Roman pig of l-ead was dug up in a bofe on Cromford Moor.Uniocaterl. fn 1505 there were two bo1es, north and south, on Barrel lid.ge(SN/ZS+.55il, this was included in Cromford Moor in the 17th century.

ruF.$B Bol-e on ldhite Eate (st</262.765), unloeated.

!tsUSU. (a large ar"r) BoIe. Probably at Lead Hi.11, smelted lead foundit ii;o places" on the summit, a.r.tl fowe:: dov,n. (sirr-/fg".slz).

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oqg, (st</loe.ero) Cinderhill" (c), unlocated. (see Ringinglow)

lIAtFIEje-JOOpllOUsiE Gt4yo,Ter) sinaerLands 1561 (C), unlocated.

9c-KryU$l (:-) eore on south edge of apprcximately sV+50.?49. (e) gor"r,ur( sx/+ro. ?B?) .

t\Al't (]) .Bo1.ehill Eyam l4oor (x/ztl.lgl). (z) ro:." near trrret liiithins (stonecircle) (sx/zzS.79o), unlocated, (t) Elam woodlands (an arca sKfzlo.Zga).(4) sore near.Rit,ey House (st</22A.166), unlocated. (l) hdywash

'Bore.

r found plas ( sK/217,775). Roman urrr and coins found there. Bole HillField (C) unlocated. There was a bole at Eyam c.1rO0.

I3g.IpLq, (sx/o%.alo) rorenitr (c), unlocateti..

ii4ir.LqLi 3o1ehi11 (sx/zzt. BO2) .

I1Q.LI39 Gt</ZA+.++a) Le 3o11e fi95 @), unlocated. r{olbrook is on thePortway, and I| miles from Rylcreld Street. (see Coxbeneh).

HQrI{ESl'rEtD (r) r'"rey says a bore at Bank, } mile s.w. of llolmesfiera,(r)Ba:rk Green 1 mile s.w. This may be the bole at llfithank (sxho+.?oo).(Z) eofehj.lI, Fox Lane, just E. of Ramsley Moor. The late Mr. G. H. B. Wardpicl<ed up sIag. (sx/zgS.?4s). (:) Le BotehrirL t164, Huet (Hewitt) Bolehiu(e). lir. ttrard states that on Hewitt Banr (the long hill on E. side ofRamsley Moor).he believed there had been a bofe near the highest point(990 ft. 0.D. )" The S. to N. stream on the lrl. of this is Bolehill Sitch.The Eyre'" 4u{ two boles on Hewod Hil1, also a washing place near. A1so,Bol-e Doles (c), untoeated. (see 0wler Bar and Unthank).

HOIY-I{0OR TOP Bolehi11 , IT.E. Harwood Cupola (St</ltZ,58B), unlocated.

l.Ji,jlfl$ Cind,erhill (St</=l>.467). Less than l- mile from Rykrreld Street.

-KRBAIIAU. (7 *1t"" N.E. Derby) cinderhulfreue 14th century, unlocated.

I EIEION (st</zlO.5OI) rotetierd (c), unlocated.

ryw+0[ cinderhilr (sVzoz.loz). Le Boregate uth centr:ry (c), untocated.

tiDYCLIFtr' Bole, Robert d.e Hollarrd. 'uilood for Ladycliff bole bought fromAlccrwaslev Gu,/510,577), unloeated

.Ugg (SVf28.577). Farey sa5rs boI,e at Cold Harbour, but this is 2 milesN.E. of Lea and is in Ashover (see).

lAUgglU Boles of William de Sirchover, smelter. In l_32l he was d,eputy

-1 0q_

for Roger Beler, at Ir{ rrksworth and Hartington mine$, and at the watenvashof Bromyegg (unlocated). In the Lllot s he held lands in Stanton-in-the-?eak, Birchover, and ![inster. Unloeated..

IIA?LOCE (f) noman plg of lead found on Matlock Moor (Iarge area, N.E. ofI'Iatl""k)'close to a bole with a hearth of flat stones.

--(Z) Roman pig on

grourrd of Portland Grange (UurOtey Grange SK/IZO.61?) on Tansley Moor,surface nearby with small hollows, showing action of fire. Both unlocated,but said to be not far from each other. -(:) sfas Piece (C), untocated.(see Riber).

llELtoR (r) mreuitt (st</qst o?8). (z) Bolehill, 1 mire N.w. New MillsGlr,6ro.aeo).

NoRTON (r) ro:-eirill sil15z.BZB. (z) rorenill approximtely st</r65.atz.

o,oru Gt{zg+.rc0). Bore unloeated.

AEIEBIIN-MAaB Bole on Smelting Hi]l. I found slag and cnrdely smeltedG;d.-ffi7.802)

-QIcE-ii&t (st</Zlt.6t1). (r) pi.e of 1ead, Roman eoins, found. Ror:ghArorrnd A sr:mmit, could be site of bole. ' (Z) Over Bole Close lies on very1ow ground.

P.ADLEY Bolehill (SY/Z+O.7gd,

PITSLEY (sx/Sgl.5l4) cinaerhill (c), unt ocated.

-r\SY/7O9.579). In I5]B Thomas Babbington left a bole in his will, unlocated.

-LMqLOq, (r).mrn. unlocated. There is a Smelting House rarm (sr/295.818).(z) htetr;.1:-, (approximateLy sr41t0.855).

ROi.ISI,EY }.{OOR Large area E. of Rowsley (sl</zSA.55B). Reference to sJ-agfound. on moor, unlocated.

sIlE-tDON (r) mr"irirr. (sx/rc2.676). when opencast fluorspar working wasdone i:t 1950ts, 1ead. slag formd. about B ft. underground, heavier in 1ead.than slag found on Ladywash Bole or offerton bole. (Z) Bole Piece (Sx/fS9.eeO).(see nsniord).

SHCOTLE AxrD POSTERN (ur, *re" SK/=tO.qe5) ttre Botles (c), untocated.

soLIrON (SV+oO.76o) cinaerlands (c), untocated.

4NTON-I}I-THE:IEAK (Sx/ +OO.I5O) Stanton Moor BoLe, unloeated.t52t.

A bole in

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SAV3.I:'EY- SIag Lane, goine over hlgh eontoured hi11top, query bole, urloeated..\s't/403.762). 0fimderhil1 Meadow, or Close (c), untoca{ed.

SLT'|0N-rN-S0ARSDAI,E (r-l mires s.E. chesterfeld) cindertrilr (c), r.mtoeated.

TCILE"Y Bolehill (sf/Zgo"aOO). Reported that slag picked up.

LIITILTII{ Bo}e, (approximatety SI{/304.760) ; (see Holmesfield. )

1i{ALTOIIT-0N-TREIVI (x/nf.I8o) Bot-e tr\rrrons (c) very low ground, r.urrikelybole urilocaded.

IJIIITTIIIGTON (SX/fiq.l5Z) (Larye area N. of Chesterfield).unlocated.

IJ,t{rT[,lELL Burnhi11 rdood (SI/5t3.7d2). .No mention of bole.

Cind.er Hill (C),

U.ElDtlU $x/lo+,q!o). Synderhill (C) unloeated.

"UIUGER},ORTI{ (St</:eO.5T5) Bofehitl (C), unloeated. Farey says S.W. of

Irrlingcrworth.

IIIRKSI,,IORTH Bolehill (S\</ZOZ.55O). Local information, a bole uncovered onS. end of the hiII. t563 inventory of Ralph GeLl ?Lead redye made...Iyrngon the BoIe Hy1lr.

rn 1505 Richard Blacicwell of l,lirksworth, besides his two boles onBarrel Edge, had a bole rbeyond the Darrenr, (Rirer Dennrent). unlocated.rn L554 sir Raph sachevereL left his rgretter boorlr, his brackl'rork, afldvrooo.s which he had bought specially, al-so his rlesse Boollet and blackwork.Unlocated. In 1514 Sir Henry Vernon left his bole and bl-ac}ffork. Unlocated.There is 1oca1 information that l-ast century, someone born c.1826 used. tofetch slag from boles in Eyam and Grindleford to be re-emel-ted at the Cupola,I{iddleton Dale.

}IOTES A,\D Rffi'E"RENTCES

1. Derbyshirc Arehaeolog:ica1 Journal f,XXIX p.l}7 '19I?).History Derbyshire Vol .IT pJ+q (fgOZ).

2. Court Rolls Manor of HolmesfieJ.d, D.A.J. ibid XX p.TlG., De Re Metatlica (T"an" Hoover 1912) p.276 (f:ie).

1" D"A.J. ihid. xrx p.B2 (1Bg?) v"C.H. ibid vo1.rT p.144.

Cameron, K. PLace Names of Derbyshire, J vo1s. (fgSg).

Derbyshire Archaeological Journals le79-1967.

Victoria County

(raga). Asricola,

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Farey, J., General View of the Agriculture and Minerals of Derbyshire,vol.r p.182 (rerf ).

Ordnance Suruey qaps, and oId maps.

Victoria County History, Derbyshir" (f-gOZ).

Sheffield Clarion Ramblers Handbooks.

I,iith thanks and aclmowledgment to:-

Mr. F" N

F.R. Ae. S. Fisher, F.R. Hist. Soe.;.; Buxton Public Library;

Mr. Frank Nixt;n, C.B.E., F.I.Mech.E.,Sheffield Public Library. T.S. Wragg ItsE, TD.

DENBY

The Church Wardenrs accounts for the year 1745 contain the followingitems:-

paid for 2 papers for ye vast days 2. 5

paid for a book for ye day of Thankogiving 1. 6

paid, for 2 books about ye distempered Cattet(ninaerpest?)e. 0

paid for Court fee 5. 10

paid for frons for the fast BeIlstripping the irons of it 1. 0

paid for renairing the bell wheel 1. 0

allowed for the o1d. iron 1. 1

In 1J48 0.5d. was paid tfor a prayer book about ye Cattle'.

A Rlotous Assembly in 1831 eaused some erpense to the County and areceipt dated 21 June IBJJ was given by R. ld. Birchy High Constable ofDerbyshire, in respect of uoney, being the proportion of the.Darnages, andCosts, awarded. to trbancis ltlundy and others for damage for feloniousd.emoLition in part of new Dwelling houses, by certain riotous assembliesin the month of October 1871.

Ordered. to be raised upon the lnhabitants of the ihurdred of Morlestonand Litchurch.

F. S. t)gd.en

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TURNPII{E ROADS

by

Robert Thornhill

fhe general conception of a Turnpike Road is probably of one on whichTo11 Bars wer"e erected, and where to1ls had to be paid for horses and vehiclespassing through, and that these tolls paid for maintaining the road.

This j-s trre so far as it goes, but is only part of the story as rdiscovered. when dealing with the records of a loci1 Turnpike T11si whichwas responsible for making 18{ miles of road, one half oi which, the Ashfordto Buxton section, is now part of the tn_rnk road 46.

Although the length of this road was short, three Acts of Parliament tBlO,1811 and 7811-? were necessarlr and as these contajned nearly a hund.red pagesof printed matter one can have some sympathy for the elerk who had to advisethe Tmstees.

There had been acts for Derbyshire roads frcn 1725 but these notes areabout what may be described as General Turnpike Acts - those applying toroad.s generally, and in particular to one of J Geo 4 (Aus l:1zz) entitled.:

An Act to arnend the General Laws now in being for regulatingfurnpike Roads in that Part of Great Britain callett England.

ft was of considerable length with 157 clauses and, 24 Forms of Proceedings,and, as narginal notes showed that no l-ess than 15 previous Acts (1, Geo 5to 51 Geo 3) were repeared, it was thought that this one woul-d^ simptifymatters and make the position perfectly clear so far as Turnpike Roads wereconcerned.

. This was not so, as eleven months later there was alother Act 4 Geo 4(,rury rcT) entitled,:

An Act to explain and amend an Act, passed the Third year ofthe Reign of His present Majesty, to Amend, the general Lawsnow being for regulating furnpike Roads in that Part of GreatBritain ealled England.

fhere were 94 clauses this tirne which seemed to be a large number to"explain and amend.'r an act issued. less than a year previously, someone elsemust have had a similar idea as an extensive hand-written index was attached.to the copies of the acts.

In order to understand something of the complexity of the position, it

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is necessary to renember that new roads were being made where none hadexisted before, existing ones were being improved and revenue had to beobtained by way of to11s, frrcm those who used the road.s, in order tomai-ntain them.

As roads were surfaced with a mixture of broken stone, soil and. water,they were relatively soft particularly in winter, or at other times duringa spel1 of wet weather. lrlhen in that condition a waggon fitted with widewheels would be less liable to cut them up than a vehicle of similar welghtwith narrow wheels.

After 1st January 1.82J every Waggon,. }train, Cart or other such Carriagehaving the Bottom or Sole of the Fellies of the ttrheelsr of the bread,th ofsix inches or otrer paid the lowest to}l, those with wheels 4t in. wide andunder 5 in. had to pay one-fourth more, and.those below 4+ j:n. one halfmore. A d.ictionary d.efinition of 'rfeI1y" (rel-re) is "one of the curvedpieces of wood which are joined. together to form the rim of a wheel; therim of a lvheel".

Later it was ordered that the rtrire or Ti-res'r of wheels should notd.eviate more than a given u-mit and that the 'tNails of the Tire'r shouldbe countersunk in order that they did. not project more than one quarter ofan ineh above any part of the surface of the [ire.

By the 1.822 Act it was enaeted that from the first of January 1825I'no Waggon or other such Cariage shall be allowed to travel or be used. onany Road, with the Fellies of the 1,,I1:eeLs thereof of e ress breadth thanfhree rnches", but in the next act, only a year later, this was repeared.

There were, as now, regulations regarding weights which could becarried but no lorger have these to be varied according to the season ofthe year, a laden waggon with nine inch wheels was limited to 6 tons 10 cwt.in the surnmer but only 5 tons in the winter, which was defined as fromrst November to 50th April, both days inelusive, if the wheels were threeinch the pennitted. weights were I tons 15 cwt. in summer and , tons 5 cwt.in winter. For a cart with three inch wheels the weights were 1 ton 15 ewt.anC I ton 10 cwt.

At the end' of the 1822 Act was a Table of Welghts allowed in summerand winter for eight classes of vehicles, but tlne 1821 Act stated. that it'rhas been found faulty" so it was repealed and a new schedule annexed - theonly difference was that the permitted sr.mmer and winter weights for bothwaggons and carts with 6 in. wheeLs was i_ncreased 5 cwt.

Weighing Engines or lrleighing Machines cculd be erected. near a TolLGate or Bar and any i,{aggon or Carriage conveying Goods or Merchandise comingwithin 100 yards could be weighed, and if a To11 Keeper alLowed a !traggon,Cart or other Carriage to pass through a tol1 gate with greater weight thanal1owed., without weighing it, and receiving ad.ditional tol,ls, he was liable

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to a penalty of €5.

If a Tnrstee, Commlssioner or Surrreyor had cause to suspeet any eonnivanceor neglect, and the waggon had not passed above 500 yards beyond the To11 Gatehe could cause it to return to the Weighing Enginer paying or tend.ering to thedriver one shilling for so doir:g, and which was to be refunded if the ioad.ing.was found to be over the weight allowed.

As roads rrrere usually not very wide, and to enable a waggon to be sentback to be weighed, surveyors were authorised rrto make convenient Places forturning such Carriages upon ever such Turnpike Road where any Weighing hgineshall be ereeted, within Three hrrndred. Yards of such To11 Gate, on each Sidethereof, if the ground will admit of the same!'. If any readers are awareof sites of Weighing Engines and Turning llaces in Derbyshire, and whieh eanstill be id.entified, perhaps they witl advise the Editors.

Toll- charges were not actually on a vehiele but "for the lIorse or Horsesor other Cattle drawing the same", in some instances the reference is tollorses or Beasts of Draught drawing l,laggons, Wains, carts or Carriages.

Carriages in this instance does not refer to a passenger caftying vehicleas a followlng clause states that nothing in the act 'rrelating to the Breadthof the wheels of carriages, or to the Regulations of tileight, or the Tollspayable in respect of the l,iheels, or of the lfeight of Camiages sha1l extendor be construed to extend to any chaise, Marine, coach, Landau, Berlin,Barouche, sociable, chariot, calash, Hearse, Break, chaise, curricle, Gig,chair or Taxed, cart, or any cart not drawn by more than one Horse or TwoOxenrr. The position regarding Oxen is madc quite clear in another clause:rrAnd be it fr:rther enacted, That in all camiages wherei::. oxen or NeatCattle sha1l be used, Two Oxen or Neat Cattle shal1 be considered as OneHorse, for all the purposes mentioned in this Act, or any partieular TurnpikeAct with respect to Tolls or other Things".

The Regulations of weight did. not extend. to any waggon ete. ,carryingonly Oee Block, P1ate, RoIl or Vessel of fron or other Metal, or compoundedof any Two or more Metals cast, wrought, or united in One pleceil.

htren there is a report in the press, most probably early in the monthof Norember, that fireworks nust not be 1et off on the highway, how nanyrealise that the regulation dates from the d.ays of horse d.rawn vehicles, and.the danger which could resuLt from horses drawing say a Stage Coach beingstampeded, it was then an offence to 'rmake or assist in making any Fire orFires commonly called Bonfires, or set fire to or wantonly Iet off or throwany squib, Rocket, serpent, or other Firework whatsoever, within Eighty Feetof the Centre of such Road".

There was a long list of things which were not permitted, some may seema little strange for exarnple persons were not allowed to 'rbait or run forthe Purpose of baiting any Bul1, or play at Football, Tennis, Fi.ves, cricket,

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or any other Game or Games upon such Road, or on the Side or Sides thereof,or in any exposed. Situation near thereto, to the Annoyance of any Passengeror Passengers".

litrhen d.riving Pigs or Swine u.pon a road they must not be allowed to rootup or d.amage the Fences, Hedges. Banks or Copse on either side. ?his isquite reasonable, but it is rather difficult to understand why anyoneI'occupying a Blacksmithrs Shop situate near any Twnpike Road, and havinga Window or Windows fronting the said Road, shal1 not, by good and closeShutters every Evening after it becomes Twilight, bar and. prevent the Lightfrom such Shop shining into or upon the said Roadrr.

ff one were thinking of putting up a windmill it was necessary toremember rtThat no Person shall hereafter erect or cause any Windmill to beerected within the distance of Two hundred Yards from any Part of anyTurnpike Road., under the Penalty of Five Pounds for each and every Day suchl,iindmill shal1 continue't.

fhose who remember the early days of motor cars and the great cloudsof dust which arose when a car passed along a road on a dry sunmer day maybe interested to lalow that troubl.e was experlenced in the d.ays of horsed.rawn coaches. Dust was not mentioned but why else should it have beenneeessary'rto water the Roads during certain Months in the Year'r.

The Act of 1822 deals at length with "Extending [ime for wateringRoads'r, power was given to trustees to water roads durilg certain months inthe year and to take add.itional tolIs, but I'the Time specified. in suchAc'bs has been found in many fnstances too limited to afford the Publj-c allthe Ad.vantages which might be derived from watering the said. Roadsrr.The reason for watering was not stated., but if it were not to reduce thetrouble with dust during dry weather it is strange that the law was alteredto permit watering any time betwe,:n the "First Day of March in every Yearand the First Day of Novenber following'r as one would not erpect troublewith dust during the remaj-nder of the year. Anpay the trustees wereI'authorised tt) exercise and enforce all the Powers, Authorities,Remedies and Penalties, for collecti-ng the additional ToLls for uateringthe Roadsrr. Watering the roaCs would be difficul-t when water had to becarried. a long distance ar:.d this would frequently be the case.

It was not permitted to unload Goods, riares or Merchendise at or beforereaching a Turnpike Gate or tleighing Engine, or to ttload or 1ay upon suchCarriage after the sane shall have passed any such 0urnpike or WeighingEngine any Goods, Wares or Merchandise, taken or unlad.en frorn any Horse,Cart, or other Carriage belonging tr) or hired or borrowed by the same lfaggoneror Carrier in order to avoid the Payment for Overweightf'.

Fa::rners received consid.eration as there was exsmption from To11 ttinrespect of any Horse, UIu1e, Ass, 0x, trilaggon, Cart or other Carriage, drawingor carryi-ng any Dung, Mould, I,IarI or Compost, of qny Nature or Kind soever,

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for improving or mar:.uring the Iand, or IIay, Straw, or any other Fodderfor Cattlert. There was also exemption for a vehicle going empty or loadedonly with inplements but rtfor the preventing of Frauds on ToIl Colleetorsby lriaggons, Carts, or other Carriages passing empty, or loaded only with}nplements.....under Pretence of going for such l{anure or Materials theOuarer or Driver" had to pay the To11 and receive a ticket uarked. 'tlvianuroExemption'r, and on presenting this on the return journey the sum paid wouldbe repaid. There was also exemption for Horses or other Seasts employed.in Husbandry going to or returning from Plough or Harrow, or to or fromPasture or Watering Place, or being shoed or farried if they did not gomore than two miles on the Turnpike Road.

Exemption could be clairned when going or returning from Church orChapel on Sundays "or on Day on which Divine Serrrice is by Authority orderedto be celebrated.rr or attending a funeral . A Rector, vicar or ci:rate wasat liberty to visit sick Parishioners or attend other laroehial Duty withinhis Parish, md Horses, carts or trfaggons carrying a vagrant sent by a lega1Pass, or a Prisoner sent by a Iegal lnJarrant were exempt from To11.

Under the 1822 Act any Horse, Ass, Sheep, Swine or other Beast orcattle found wandering, straying or lying about any Turnpike Road. eould beplaced in the common Por.md of the Parish or such other plaee provided bythe Trustees until the &r'ner pald rtthe Sum of Five Shillirlgs to the Personimpounding the same, together with the reasonable Charges of ippound.ing and,keeping the same'?. The following year the rrsaid ?rovision" was repealedas it had been forind inconvenient. lnstead of paying five shillings tothe person who impounded the a^r,ima1s, the surn of two shirrlngs had to bepaid for each animal, together with reasonable charges and Expenees ofimpounding and keeping the s4mer and this wa.s. applied rrto the Use of, andin Aid of the Tolls of such Road"

A carrier rrconveying Goods for Hire or Reward, or for Sale, on anyTurnpike Road't was obliged to 'rchaj.:: or fasten any Dog that was attend.inghim.....to such Waggon, Wain, Cart or Carrinqerr or forefit a sun not exceedingtwenty shillings.

To release or attempt to release animals which had been seized for thepurpose of being impounded, or to damage the Pound was a serious offence,and on conviction a person could be committed to the Common GaoI or Hoqseof Correction rrthere to remain without 3ai1 or Mainprize for any Tjme notexceeding Three calendar Months". A more serious offence was lo t'pulldown, pluck up, throw down, Level or otherwise destroy or damage anyTurnpike Gate, or any chain, Rail, ?ost or Barrt, every Person so offendingand found guilty'rshaIl be transported to One of His Majestyrs Pl-antations.A'broad for Seven Years, or in Mitigation thereof sha1l suffer other Pgnishmentas the Court may direct, as in Cases of Petit Larceny".

rt was lawfu1 for rrone Person to act as the Driver of two carts onany Turnpike Road" provided they were not I'd.rawn by more than One Horse each,

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and the Horse of the hinder Cart shall be attached by a Rein or Reins tothe Back of the Cart which shatl be foremostr'.

But it was not lawfu] for one, or freqnently more' carts or waggons

to be ',i-ntrusted to the Care of Children, who are unable to guide the Horses

drawing the same" so in future 'rno Cart e1 lJaggon travelling on any turnpikeRoad, si.rff be driven by any Person or Persons who shalL not be of the fullAge of Thirteen Yearsrr.

Trr:stees could orcler one or more lamps to be erected in front of everyTo11 llouse, and to order I'at what Times of the Year and during what llor:rssuch Iemp or Lamps, or any of them, shall be kept lighted'rr"

Following due notice having been given, Trustees could have built'twhere they sha1l judge necessary, such and so many To11 Gates, Turnpikes,Sid.e Bars, and Chains, with To11.Houses, Outhouse$, and other Conveniencesthereto, and also to take in and inclose on the sides of such Road, or any

Part thereof, suitable Garden Spots for eaeh of sr-lch To11 Houses, not exceedingOne Eighth of a Statute Acre't. They could also have To11 Houses taken dor,rn

and discontinued, or to be removed and placed el-sewhere"

The last two notes are from Acts passed in 182? and 1828, between

then and lB55 a further sixteen General Turnpike Road Acts were issued'but with an odd exception, they were quite short and contained nothing ofspecial jnterest.

"An Act to consolid.ate and amend the Law relating to llighways in thatPart of Great Lritain ca}Jed England. 5 & 6 UiI1 4 Aug. 1835'r.

fhis Act was similar to the two already dealt with, and eontained 120

clauses and, 25 schedules, eleven earlier acts were repealed in whole orpart, the first being that of 6 Geo.f (rZf.g-ZO).

From 1BJ5 no Tree, Bush or Shrub was to be planted with fifteen feetof the centre of a road., and if the surveyor "sha}1 think that anyCarriageway or Cartway is prejudiced by the Shade of any Hedges, or by anyTrees (except those Trees planted for Ornarnent or for Shelter to any llop

Grorurd, House, Build.ing or Court -[ard. of the Owner thereof) growi-ng in ornear such Hed.ges or other Fenees, md that the Sur,r and. l{ind are excludedfrom such Highway, to the Damage thereof , or if any Obstmction is caused...rlhe could apply to the court to have them cut.

It was not 1aw-fu1 rrfor any Person to sirrk any Pit or Shaft, or erectany Steam Engine, Gin or other like Machine, or any lfachinery attachedthlreto't within 25 yards, nor any l{lndmi11 within 50 yards from any partof the road unless the first items were in a building or behind. a wall whichwould conceal or screen them from the "Carriageway or Cartway, so that thesame may not be dangerous to Passengers, Horses or Cattl-err. Previously a

Windmill had to be 200 yards away.

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Baiting a bu1l on the road. was sti11 prohibited but when animals strayedon the highway the fine was only one shilling each. The penalty for ?ou1d.-breaeh was reduced somewhat, to a fine not exceed.ing f20 or to be cormittedto the i{ouse of correction 'rthere to be kept to Hard Labour for any Time,not exceedir:g Three Calendar Monthsrt.

Such were some of the many regulations introdueed during the early d.aysof our Turnpike Roads.

SOME NCI'ES ON TOI,IBARS AND TURNPIiG ROADS

by

1I. H. Brighouse

Road.s became a subject of national concern in 1555 when a famous statuteof tlut date provided for an organisation specially for road maintenance.This act created. for every village a trsurveyor of Highwaysrr who was responsiblefor alL existing highways within the parish boundary. A11 the l-abour involvedin road repairs and also the too1s, horses, carts and materials used. had tobe supplied by the villagers free of charge. Villagers were cal-Ied upon forthis work by being notified in church that they were required. on four specifieddays annually to work eight hours per tlay without payrnent, at which time everyable bodied vil-lager had to turn out.

By 1561 it was found that roads were still not reaehing the neeessarXrstandards and so the period of free labour required was i-ncreased to sixeonsecutive days, This was caLred "statute Labourfr or ilTeam Duty, and wasstrictly enforeed. The method proved to be sadly ineffective and from thisperiod, indeed until about 1800, the whole of ltrrgland had practically nothingbut soft dirt roads and at the best they were only mend.ed. with weak sanC a16gravel. It was not, in fact, until 1596 that the word road. mad.e its firstappearance in the English language.

After the Civil War, Cromwellrs Commonwealth Government introd.uced ahighway rate which was not to exeeed t/-a. fu the pound, so that labourersand teams could be hired. and the roads repaired. on a systematic basis, buteven with the vigour of this new government the 'rim.ow-how" of road. maklngwas stil1 absent and little improvement, other than seraping soil back j;1tothe ruts made by waggons, was forthcoming. After the Refoznation there wasa strong reluctance to ra:ise this highway rate and so statute labour againbecame the basis of road repair.

The first intimation of toIl chargir:g occumed in 1665 when this methodof raising money for road" repairs r,ras placed before larliament and the system

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developed with some success to the end of that century, placing theresponiibility for highway maintenance upon the County Justices" However,

in U06 the first of r^re11 over 1rOO0 Turnpike Trusts was created. by Act ofParliament and. these trustees were then charged with the responsibility ofmaintenance and. improvement upon a specified stretch of road. They wereempowered. to borrow money in order to improve and repair their stipulatedlength of road and to lerry to1ls on certain kinds of traffic using them.In the first i-nstance pikes or bars were erected at specified points alongthe road at rrhich tolls were exacted. By 1716, that is ten years later'a further act gave the tmstees tne power to erect rrtol1 houses, toI1 barstturnpikes, crates or gates" and. to charge a fixed. sum for definite typesof transport.

Drging the next fifty years the turnpike authorities continued to gainnew powers. They could purchase land compulsorily to widen narrow weys orimprove gradients, they could ereet bars against access to their road frombSnways, they could elose ancient highways, divert others at their pleasure,and eompel everyone to travel by the new road which they had constructed.,and of course pay the necessaly to1l. In this way many ancient hamletswere deprived of a public road, and this naturally caused many objectionsand. indeed disturbances. Some turnpike gates and houses were puiled doun,cut ciown or burned. down in protest and this type of action became so

wid,e-spread that the sentence for this offence was raised from three monthshard l-abor"rr and whipping to death without the benefit of clergy.

The road surfaces sti1I showed little signs of improvement and causedgrave public concern, particularly so as wheeled traffic was on the increaseand damaging the soft surfaces by ruts faster than it could be repaired.Certain restrictions were therefore imposed., and heavier to1ls demanded ofthe more disasterous type of vehicle. The heavier narrow wheeled vehicleswhich caused. most damage lrere in fact prohibited. erntirely. This wes so

enforced at some tol-l bars that a most compl-icated timber stmcture was

erected to check the weights of waggons before they were allowed to pass.This method proved. most unsuccessfuL and cumbersome that it was not developed,moreover 1t led to cormption whereby the to1l keeper closed his eyes tocertain hrjarry vehicles providing he too received a toll for himself.

In the latter half of the eighteenth century the trusts became boggeddown by administrative failures in both worlsoanship and control. Firstly,the I'statute Labourersrr avoid.ed as much work as possible during the periodof enforced team d.uty, and to overcome this difficulty a 1oca1 fanner wouldbe paid a lurnp sum to undertake the duty of maintqining a given stretchof road under repair. This led to a new phrase rtfarming-out" of duties,and proved quite ruinous to the roads. Secondly the to1ls which were themain source of income led to endless evasions, inequalities, favouritisms,arbitrary exactions and petty embezzlements, as well as the avoidance ofpayrnent ty dashing through the gates (see "John Gilpin") or fraudulentlypretending to be exempt. Some exemptions were lqgitimate in favour ofagriculture, sueh items as ploughs, farm implements, manure carts, harvest

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waggons and cattle being moved to pasture, all passed wlthout charge, butwhilst this protected an important industry, lt neverthe$.ess robbed the tmstsof some of titeir essential receipts. Thirdly, the gatekeepers sometimeslcrown as "pikemen" were trneducated and unabLe to keep records, sometimesallowing evasions, and almost always retaining soroe part of each days takingsfor thercselves. This unsatisfactory system of gatekeeping led. to therrfanningi-out[ of gates, that is the leasing of each gat- with its power ofexacting to11s to a prj.vate individual in exehange for a fixed sur per arulum.lhe letting of the to1I gates was done by public auction, the higheit bidderbecoming the lessee for a fixed period of t-iiie.

At the tu:rr of the nineteenth eentury trBlind Jackt' Metcalfe, Thonoas[elford' and John L. l{acadam brought such revolutions to road suriacir:g thatthe turnpikes soon started to make a name for themselves and everyone wantedtheir stretch of road to beeome turnpike, until in 1Bl? the turnpiku R".rurru"9?+i"g!91 through tolIs reached its highest peak, exceeding for ihe yearCli million" trYom this date onwards the advent of the railruys started thedo'nmfalL of the turnpike trusts until by 1Bg0 only two of them remained.,and in 1895 the last tolI was levied on the Anglesey portion of t]:e Shrewsburyand Ilolyhead road, at which time the new county councils had been formed. andwere charged with the responsibi],ity to maiatain entirely the main road.swithin their respective county bound.aries.

Road. widening soon 1ed to demolition of toIl houses whose tell-ta1ebay windows and porches encroached upon the road itself. Gates were takendolrn and gate posts removed until few are left to-day to teI1 the story.However, ln the case of tolr houses there stirl remain sufficient inDerbyshire to indicate the type of buildings used and the position in whichthey stood. Many clues stirl remain to ind.icate which they are and acertain pattern of building is one of the first of such c1uls. anotheris the presence of a square protmsion looking rather like a bloeked.-inwindow which housed a bcard displaying the list of torls payable. Manyrru:s named 'rrhe Gatertwere built in the vicinity of the toti gates, ardin fact some inns developed. frono the toll ba: itself. SeveraL toil larshave been modernised and the old use of the build.ing is perpetuated in thehouse na"me such as 'rTurn Pike cottage,, "01d ro11 House" etc. streetnames such as Three-gates, Brackley Gate, Buigate Road, are sure ind.icationsthat a toll bar exists or dld exist there during the last century. perhapsone of the surest indications is the bay wind.ow or protrucing porch of area11y o1d cottage, for these were rarely installed in those days unlessthey served an effective senrice. Sometimes new brlcks or stone can beseen on these buildings where they have replaced the porch or bay to allowroad widening, but in all cases the toIl house reaehes right up to theroad sid e.

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YOUNG STEFTIMI BELLOI

by

M. A. Bellhouse

'blhen I wrote about the I'Be1lots of Brocfield[ some time ago (DerbyshireMiscellany Vol.III No.1 p.4]fi) 7 was most disappointed that so much detailabout young Stephen Bel1ot's life was missing.

I had no thor-rght then for the Stockport newspapers, havi-ng concentratedon those of Derbyshire, and so missed. the long account in the Stoel<portAdvertiser (Rueust 6th 1Bl0) of the sad drowning aecident of Stephen inthe Comb Reservoir.

The Chapel-en-Le-Frith Parish Church Burial Register of 1Bl0 givesonly a brief note in the margin stating rrd.rowned. when bathing in the Combs

Rese::voirtr. Even Inl. B. Bunting only gave him a bare mention in his bookon Chapel-en-Ie-Frith.

The Rector of St. Maryts Parish Church, Stoekport, ad.vJ-sed. me toconsult the Cheshire Record Office where the ?arish Registers are deposited,,and from them I received a copy of the }icence for marriage of StephenBe1lot and his fiancee signed by Rob. Da11as, Suffpgate. From all this newmaterial f have been able to draw a clearer picture of the young nan.

Stephen Bellot, son of Stephen BeLlot of Brook Howe, Combs,Chapel-en-1e-Fr:'th, in the County of Derby and l{ary Ollerenshatr, wasbaptised on February 5th 1809 at Chapel Parish Church. Living al1 hisshort life at Srook llouse, where his farnily had reEided since 1688, whenthe property wBs bought from one Nieholas Bradshaw of Haylee, he must haveli:rown both the Brewery and the Mill in their hey-day.

Stephen was.3n only chi1d, but had many yoLlng relations, bothOllerenshaw cousins in Glossop and second cousins tn Manchester and Stoekport,being the chil-dren of Anthony Bel1ot, his father's cousin. Where he waseducated is not }caown, but I imagine that he may have been sent to boardingschool in Chester, where some of the Bradbury boys of.Rye tr'Iatt went.They rnention in several letters home that Mr. Bellot (senior) often came tosee thern.

Stephenfs father made a will in 1816 leaving pertain money in trust forhis son's education..."."Piy riy son Stephen towards placing hi-m in lifebefore tho age of 21, sums of money for his education, not exceed.ing thesum of .€500rt., etc. and....."pay over to him at the age of 2L, all theresidue of my estaterr....."In the event of my son dyingunder the age of27.....A share in tnrst for my cousin Anthony ofMoss side nearManchester(sent.) und his eisht sons, share and share alike't.

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Father Stephen died, September 27th LBz^,,

Young stephen did live to ttre age of 21, and so inherited. the property,but onry lived a further six months to enjoy it. He was drovrned on July29th 1810, leaving no will.

Stockport Adyertiser Febmary 12th 1810. '!The coning of age of StephenBel1ot Esq. of Brook ilouse, particularly on account of extensive prepaxationsmade for its celebration, d,iffused. eonsid.erable joy throughout the neighbourhoodof his residence on Friday 1ast.

fn the morning of that day, the bel1s of the Parish Church gave earlytoken of the event and the merzy peal was sustained. with 1ittle intermissionuntil the evening.

The invitation extended. to his tenant:1y antt their friends to the nurnberof 150, with about 60 or more d.istinguished" guests, and, from sueh an assemblagesome estim,nte may be formed of the extent of the preparation necessar:y forthe oecasion.

The company were divided into two parties, and at 9 otclock, the onewhich consisted of his more intfunate friends commenced dancing, an amusementwhich they continued with great spirit until about four the nert morning,when they separated highly delighted with their host and his unbounded.hospitalityrr.

fhe question comcs to ny mind - where was this grand party held?The house wouLd be too smaI1, but the Readi;,,; Room, where the sehool washeld., could have been used., or perhaps the o1d- Bee Hive fnn had a largeenough room, failing that, there was the Royal Oek Irln at Chapel.

Stephents mother, Marlf, lived to be 85, md died on Deeember ]?th1848, being buried at Chapel Chrrrch in her sonrs vault. After his deathshe lived at Brook House, which had been left to her for her lifetime byher husband.

It is not imown if young Stephen farrred. the 1and, but his mother kepta cow for her own use. In the census for 1841 she had a yo\lng girl of 15,Isobel1a. Bennett, living with her, the daughter of her friends from Dow(on Dove) Lane, Combs, to whom she left money in her wiII.

Two years befr:re his death, Stephen completetl a deep stone sough iorwater from the Mi1I Field, through the orchard to the new stone trough inthe yard, dated 1828. This was quite an echievement, md thanks to beingwell laid is still in use to-day, the sough varying in depth frorn 5-5 ft.and. picking up five springs on the way.

An account of the drowni-ng of Stephen was found in the Derby MercurXlof August 4th 1870.

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"Stephen Be11ot Esq. of Combs near Chapel-en-1e-Frith, in this County,we lament to state, was drowned in the Reservoir there on Thursday afternoon,by the upsetting of a boat in wir-.:h he was fishing.

He had only a few months ago attained his majority and was on the pointof marriage with an amiable young lady of Stoclqtort".

9@ August 6th 1B]0

'r0e Thursday 1ast, in his 22nd year, Stephen Bellot Esq. of BrookIlouse, Chapel.

It is only a tribute justly due to his memory to say that his virtuesand amiable qualities were such as will long be remembered, and themelancholy circr:rnstances attending his death will throw a gloom over therecol1ection of hirn in the minds of all those acquaintances who harl aIarowledge of his friendship

The death of one who but in the morning was blooming in hearth andyouth and in the evening a sad corpse, mwt strike every reflectlng mindwith horror and. more particularly so, as on that d.ay setnnight he was tohave been united to a lovely and amiable young: 1ady.

He had gr;ne out in the morning with three friends for the purpose offishing ln the Reservoir, but they unfortunately afterwards changed theirintention to bathlng

He was the first to leave the boat for the water, and. in his firstplunge he sank to rise no more, being as it was supposed, seized. with a fit.

Every effort was used by his friends to save him, and though two ofthem plunged in imrnediately and succeed,ed. in raising him to the surface,yet oo powerfully did he grapple with them, that they all three sank again,and with great d.ifficulty could they ultimately extricate themseives fromtheir perilous situation.

Had they been nearer the shore it might have been possible to havesaved him, but at the distance of 40 yards frorn it, and the boat havingdrifted away from them, left the individuals no alternative but to seektheir own preseruation.

His remains were d.eposited in the yard of chapel church on Tuesdaylast and the sarne horses which had been engaged to convey him and his affianced.brid.e to the h5meneal altar, forned part of the mournful procession whichhad to convey him to his last earthly abode',.

Stephen had inherited much property from his father, and the followinglist is taken from rrrhe valuation of the parish of chapel (p"n. rgrz)rrnder the name rrExors. of .Anthony Bellotr', for under Father stephenrswi11, Anthony was to inherit it if young Stephen died. Anthony inherited.,

but died. within two years, leavir:g his second daughter Mary as his heiress.Mary married Samuel Jackson, the Brewer of Brook House, (see "fhe Story ofCombs, My Village").

va1@qs-!ie!

BRADSHAW MGE COMBS EDGE

10 Houses at Errrfield15 Acres Land in Chapel7 Houses at Lower Crossir:gs

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Collin Acre House and. 4 aeres.Pritchard Fa::n House J2 It

Land Holmes 3A OR 24Prrr"tderfie1d3Ll0Greave House tr'armtr I Land 13 I 16Brook Houses and. Gard.enSrook 't Land. 44 3 28land. Ad.joining Reserrroir (Lee Eie1d)ftnithy6 Houses in Combs.

B0rprnllru

4 Houses in Blackbrook50 Acres Land rr

I7 It rr PeaslowsHouse & 21 acres Bagshaw2 Hrcuses in the \lashfntake Plantation

COPY SCHMULE OF TI{E TITIE DETDS RETATIJ\IG TO TTIE TATE STEPIfi]IV SELTCNIS EffiATE(Ient by lllrs. T.A.D. Lawton nee Jackson)

Brookl:ousesPityard EstateHeighleighCorn Mi1lSlackbrooke EstateHouses at Lower Crossings

Greaves llouse EstateCollins AcrePyegreaveHitch HouseBagshaw EstateHouse near the World:ouse

Land in BlackbrookIt rr Peaslowstr il Combsn rr Wash

Oc JuIy 2Oth 1BlO, Stephen (in person) applied for a licence to mamTEli,za Heaword of Stoclgport, but who gave a l{anchester address to conform withthe marriage regulations, as they were to be married. at st. John's Church,Manchester in August. She was a minor and may only ha.re been 17 or 18 atthe time.

. I always had the belief that Stephen was to have married E1len Brad"buryof Rye tr'latt, Combs, who was his own age, and who later married AnthonyBellot Jackson of New Brook l{ouse, twelve years her jurior.

It is sti1l comlnon Imowledge amongst older inhabitants (who must oftenhave heard. the story fron their parents) tfrat even at the time when Stephenwas fishing in the Reserroir, his furniture was being moved to Rye Fl-att.This could not have been Rye Flatt House, but night have been the farm, orHitch llouse which he omed, and whlch belonged to the I{i11.

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A further account of hls death and funeral was sent to me by Mr. PhilipRobinson of Chesterfield, and was taken from the diary of J. B. Robinson.

July 1810. rrl'ir. Stephen Bellot drowned in the Resenroir near Chape1whilst bathing with two other gentlemen, he attended my Cousinrs funeral theday before and was to have been married the next Wednesday, for which occasion,vast preparations were making.

He was 2l last Febmary, died without a 1^'1i11, A Mr. Anthony Be11ot heirto the estate. f and my brother (who served the funeral) attend.ed.

The funeral was Iarge, 4 mourning coaches with 4 grey horses in each,the hearse with 4 d"itto, 2 chaiser;, 2 other carrieges, 2 gigs and 2l gentlemenon horseback fo::uied the procession.

IIe was interred. in the new Burial Cround at Chapel on fuesday, byMr. Grundy.

l4r. Be1lot, in the presence of my Uncle Bradbury, promised to leaveme all the Birds which were Stephenrsil.

The bi:ds referred to would be cases of stuffed birds, which werehoused at 01d Brrrok l{ouse, in the llal-L, dining room and one bedroomknown as therrBird Room't, as the walls were stencill-ed with coloured birds.

In the three rooflIs mentioned are stilI wall plugs high up near theceilings, trhere the cases were displayed. For many years when theJacksons lived at New Brook liouse these cases were in the hal1, but now theybelong to ldilliam Bellot Jleckson, a descend.ent, living in Combs.

An elaborate tomb was built for Stephen in Chapel Church Yard, and aflowery epitaph conposed by his grief-stricken fiancee (see the "Story ofCombs") - who remained. true to his menory until 1872.

"John Collier Vaudrey, bachelor of this P,arish and this Town, andT}Jza lleaword (Spinster) of the Parish of Manchester, a minor, was marriedin this church by licence, with consent of ttle lawful Guard"ians of the said.Elize Heaword, on 28th March 1832".

E1iza was not baptised in the Stoekport Parish, but may have beenbaptised at St. Johnts Church, Manchester, where she was to have married.Stephen.

The only two baptismal entries in the Stoclcport Parish Chureh Registerof that period. are:-

J,ane daughter of Joseph and Jane lleaword of Heaton, born 19th May 1810,Baptised 10 August 1810.

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Mary- daughter of Thomas and Hannah Heaword of Stockport, was born on I July1811, Baptised 2 August 1811.

It is interesting to note that in the 1969 Manchester Telephone Directerrythere are several Heaword.s in the Stoclcport area on1y. ft appears to be ,r.rn

uneorulon nane.

A r'JOURNEYlvlJtlV CoRDIITAINER FAII.I ON EVIL DAYS

by F. S. Oeden

The following doeument is interesting as an exanple of the infornationrequired fnon an applicant for tparish reliefr in order to establish theapplicantrs settlement in the particular parish which thon had to aeceptresponsibility for providing the appropriate relief. ft is not a complicatedcase but throws an interesting sidelight on apprenticeship arrangements.County of Derby THE EI\AMIIVATION CF' Henry Vallance of the Parish of Kirkiretonin the said County Cordwainer taken on oath before us two of his MajestyrsJustices of the Peace in and for the said Coturty the twenty-sixth day ofApril in the year 1799 touching his l_ast Iegal settlement.llho saith that he is upwards of thirty-two years was born at Kirkiretonaforesaid. of parents who then resided there with a certificate from theParish of liirksworth in the County aforesaid, as he had been informed andbelieved that about the age of 14 years he bound himself apprentice toThomas llather of Wjrksworth aforesaid Cordwainer for seven years that wlrenhe had served as an apprentice about 4 years his master became unable toemploy or maintain him and his Parents agreed with his said master to pemithim this exaroinant to serrre the remaind.er of the term with another masterthat the said Thos Mather his Master named two persons of the same trade withhimself for the Parents this exaninant to chuse one for him this examinantto serve That they (his parents) chose one of them which was Thos. Winson ofBrailsford in the said County That trtrinson paid examinant One poi.rnd to paythe said Mather for the remainder of the term which was paid to Matheraccordingly and said Mather geve up the fndenture to his parents of hjm thisexaminant that his said Parents then beca^me bournd to the said Winson for theperformance of the service of hira this examinant for the remairrder of theterm that he served the said }riinson for the remafurder of the said. term and.eonsidered himself as his apprentice and at the expiration thereof served.the said Winson as a journeyman about I year afterwards then he inte:marriedwith Elizabeth Thornhitl his present wife in the Parish Church of Kirkiretonaforesaid by whon he hath six chirdren viz. Helrin aged about.12 years,Elizth.aged 9 yeals, Samuel aged 5 years, Ann aged 4 years, tiannair and Mary(twins) aged 1 year"

Taken and SVorn before usF.N C. I,[undyR. Bateman

hisI

markHenry Vallanee

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A BOOM COLIIERY IN TiIE BOER WAR PERIOD

by

A. R. Griffin

fn the late Nineteenth and early Twentiety Cenhries, there were stillmany small and medium sized nining enterprises which were owned either byindividuals or by suralI private companies. Few of these family eorieernshave left reeordsl and. only i-n isolated cases are essentiaL docunentslike Account Books available for research.

ilowever, a burdle of papers relating to one such locaI fi.::m, formed inthe 1890rs, cane to light recently. This was the South i[ormanton Co11ieryCompany which sank a small rni.ne close to the Derbyshi-re/Nottinghamshirebord.er in 1892-5. These papers show how profitabXe coal mtning javestnentcould be during a boom period. unfortunately, the author has not yet hadtime to work through all the papers. The present short article is basedon the Companyrs final accounts whlch are almost complete for the period.tB91-7903.

South Normanton is an o1d. coal mining area on the borders of Nottingham-shire and. Derbyshire. The colliery whose affairs we are about to examj:rei-s on the Derbyshire siqe of the border, but it has alwa3rs been regarded aspart of the Nottir:ghamshire coalfield becausc its men were organised by thellottinghamshire Miners I Association.

Old South Normanton Colliery (often ca11ed. "Winterbank't or "Wincobankr')closed in March 198?,(r) rortowirig the banlmrptcy of the tessees, T. H. andG. Small in 1885.(2) Judging by the Winding hrgine House and headstocks,which sti1l stand, this was an incredibly sma]1 mide. lndeed, even thenew, 'and nuch larger, co11iery whieh replaced it was stirr smarl by modernstandards. In the financial year 1896-7, for exa$ple, its output lra_s g1,600tons, indicating a capacity of no more than {oo tons a day. Flal-f a centuryIater, it was stiIl only producing 500 tons a day.

This new colliery was sunk by a syrdicate fron the Durham area. Thefounder, l4r. A. Mein of Bishop Auckland, began work on the froating of thecompany in October 189t, and when the company was incorporated in thefollowing year, he became the Chai::nan and Managing Director. Ilis fe11owdirectors were: S, Fielden, M.D., I,W. l,averick and T. young. (f)

The Mein fa"rily were firmly 1n control of the firm. The companysecretary was Henry Johnson Mein (of Houd.en-1e-weir); the l{anager r,iasJames Mein; the cashier was Andrew Mein and the cl-erk was William Hartfordt'te:-n. (4)

-214-

The Company took a lease fron l{ugh Browne for working eoal qnder hLsPinrJon Range, 3emistow and Winterbank farms for 2I years frrcm the 25thI{arch 1892 with an option of extension for 14 or ? years. There r,ras Lrent certain (i.e. a fixed. rent to be paid irrespective of the amount ofeoal won) of €200 per year, merging into a Royalty Rent of €100 per acre ofeoal worked. The Company had. power to make up any shortworkings during thewhole period of the leasel that is, if, in any year the coal worked. attracted.a royalty rent of less than C200, this minimun sum would have to be paid.but the balance of the coal to make up the Royalty of €200 would be carriedfortrard to future years. (5)

fn February t898, the directors reported that they were about towork coal outside the boundaries of the originar.lease, and that theytrere negotiating a new lease frcm Hugh Browne.(6) By 1901, ooal was alsobeing worked. on lease from CoI. Coke (of the neighUouring Pinxton Coal Co. )Miss Peaeh, Miss Wright and others. (7)

It appears that the Company purchased from Hugh Browne certain itemsof equipment from the defunct "winterbanktr mine. rn the 1894 Accountsappears the iten;

'rEngines, Boilers, Rails, Pipes, etc. purchased frorn the l-essor c25orr.

The Direetorsr Report for 28th Febnrary 189J also refers to eqrenditureonrrPlant and Machinery at the 01d south Normanton co11ierytt, whilst,earlier sti1l, a ro',rgh list of accour:ts passed for paynent at the Boardl{eeting on 18th June }892 contains the itern:

'rMar. 25 Hugh Brovme ?Plantr €JOO Os. Od.rr

The Aceounts for half-year ending 28th February 1894 show that the sum of$199 lls. 0d was spent on ffremodelling No.2 Errgine ete.'r. ft seemslikely that this was the oId Winterbank winding engine.

Making use of seconl-hand. equlpment enabled the Company to eomlnenceoperations with a very sma1l issrred. eapital. [he Share capita] was asfollows:

700 810 0rdina:ry Shares fulIy paid before half-year ended.28th February 1894.

158 S10 Cunulative Preference Strares fu1ly paid before half-year ended 28th Febn:ary 1894.

70 €10 Cumulative Preference Shares fully paid during half-year end,ing 28th Febmary 1894.

The issued capital therefore totalled Cll,280, and this remainedunchanged until at least 1903. (8)

-2t5-

[he Chai:man, Ivir. A. Mein, lent the Company S50O in its early days andhe received interest on this at the rate of 7 per csrt. per annum" Inaddltion, he net any cash deficiencies on general account and. took interestat 5 per cent. on this. In their report for the half-year end.ing 28thAugust 1894, the Auditors cofimented. that they had "seen no minute as tothisrr, but since the payment of interest continued tt wouLd appear that asubsequent Board Meeting approved the arrangement., The Directors guaranteedoverdraft facilities at the Nationa] Provincial Sank in the surn of A3,5OO,but these facifities were little used.

The directorsr fees were remarkably 1ow. rn the year ended a8thFebmary 1894 they were as follows:

A Mein, Chainnan and Managing DlrectorS. Fielden, I{.D.J. W. LaverickT. Young

By 1900 they had risen to €275, and they rose again to {325 in 1902.

The amount spent on opening out the colIiery (capitat Account) up to71st August 1894 was s12,749 l-6s, 9a. A new screening plant was addedd.uring half-year ended 28th Febmary 1895 at a cost of &7oz r6s. 5d., anda further €9 ls. 0d. was spent on Capital Account in the following half-year.Deducting surns transferred. to Curuent Account, the total cost of sinking aa1d.opening the col-liery works out at El.2,B93 12s. 4d.

By contrast, the nearby New Huclorall corlie4r sunk in 18?6-18?9 had.capital assets reckoned to be worth 869rBBI when production commenced.,and this was no more than a medir,rm-sized col-l-iery. (.9)

The Manchester, sheffield and Lincornshire Railway company built abranch line to serve the co11iery at a cost of €11516. By an Agreementdated 2Jrd June 1891, the South Normanton Company undertook to repay thisst2ln over flve years and to pay interest at 4 per cent. in the rneantiue.(tO)Later additions to the line brought the total eost to €2rO47.

During the sinkiag of the col1iery, a sma1l amount of coal totalling546 tons was raised. and this was credited to Capital Aceount which had bornethe cost.

fhe commencement of coal production proper was derayed somewhat bythe mining dispute of 1B9l as is evidenced by the following entry in theProfit and Loss Account for half-year end.ed 28th February 1894:

"Cost of re-opening workirrgs after strike - {182 0s. Sd.t,

Consequently, regular coal production commenced at the beginning of October1B9J when most Nottinghamshire eol-Iiers went baek to work.

aI00s25{25a25

-2t5-

h the first five months working, (to 28th Febnrary lB94) output tota1led.81114 tons. In the next half-yeer it was 181775 tons and in the two succeedinghalf-years it rose to 221111 and 21r018 tons respectively. U.nfortunately,the Report and Accounts for 1895 are missing, but the output (and also thecost infornation) for the half-year ending Sfst lrgust 1805 can be derivedfrom the followir:g half-yearts report. The output was substantially higherthan in any previous period - 12,?5J tons, &d further increases (to t5r4A6,40,100 ed 4t,418 tons) followed in the succeeding three half-years.

This sharp increase in output was no doubt due in the main to anincreased demand from 1895. The trade cyele reached its peak in 1900-01,but South ltlormantonrs output did not respond although, as one would erpect,its average proceed,s rose. One may safely infer from this that the Col1iery'soutput ilas up to capacity, without lmowing what the limiting factor was.(ff)The figures are as follows:

HalF-Year ended htp"t Avs. Proeeeds (per ton) Profit for Half Year(tons )

31.2. 189828.2.190r,1.8.190128.2.t9O2,t.8.1902

41,418Not given

40,10548r7l945,375

656591OB

58

a/slae/sa/o7/5

1&2rBL5{1,t35€ Br1€1'46€ 169 (toss)

The loss for the half-year ended Jlst August 1902 is attributed largelyto hieh labour costs. tfages Costs amounted to &13,452 and Salaries took afurther 0155 naking €1J,80? altogether. This is equivalent to 5/t.04 perton. By contrast, the 'labour cost per ton ln the period 1895 to 1B9B hadfallen frcn 4/t1.75 to 3/Lt.l.3.

The present writeris view is that the increase in average wages costresulted f:rom trade union activity. During the Soer War boom, theNottinghanshire l'linersr Association forced up the basis rates both for pieceworkers and also for day-wage oen working away from the coal face and on thes*face. (f 2) the perelntage ad.ditions to basis wages, whieh were negotiatednationaLly, also rose very substantially. In 1894 the percentage was fixedal 10 per cent. by the Conciliation Board for the Federated. Distriet (1.e.virtually all the inland coal fields). an increase of * p., cent. on basj.swas agreed in 1898, ?t per cent. in 1899r ten per cent. in 1900 and a further10 per cent. in the flrst two months of 1901 so that the rates paid werethen 60 per cent. above the basis rat.s. (tl) This level was maintaineduntil July 1902, but in the meantime proceeds were falling quite fast, andcompani.es like South No:manton ran into trouble.

Occasional Losses should not, however, be allowed. to obscure the ve'ryhigh rate of return on capital employed in the good periods. The profitfor the six months ended 28th Febnrary 1902, for example, gives a rateof return of more than 50 per cent. for the half year"

-2r7-

It is interesting to compare the wages cost pef ton of South Normanton,which was clearly und.Lr-capitatised (using a great deal of second-handequipment, for example) with its near neighbour, llew Huclma11, whi-ch was

always regarded as a highly efficient colliery. tr'or roughly equivalenthalf-years the comparative figures are:

New Huchra]lSouth Normanton

1894 1895 1Bq6

z/a t/o 3/6q/+ +/t 4/t

189? 1904

3/B 4hoz/g 5/-

The principal reason why the New lluclcrall Company was able to hold. its wages

cost per ton down was its flexibility. In contrast with the very smalli:ccrease in output at South Nornanton which we nbted above, the New lluclmallCompany enpanded. its output fron 545,674 tons in 1897 to 1l1r5O3,tons in1902. (14) The increase in the productivity of d.ay wage labour (employed

away from the coal face) of the New Huclorall Company would und.oubtedly !e rsufficient to cover the increase in day-wage rates, several tirnes overr(15)thus offsetting to some extent the increase ln face wages cost consequenton higher tonnage prices.

A fairer test of the South l[^:'manton Company's efficiency as a user oflabour would be to compare its performance with that of a similar sizedcolIiery in the area. Sutton would be a good exarnple, but the figUresfor one year only - 1896 - are available and operations were interrupted bya strike in that year. The Sutton.wages cost per ton for the year was 5/lcompared with South Normantonts +/r(rO).

The South Normanton accounts display an interesting feature regardingwage payments, and reco:ded torurages, which is rareLy appreciated" Thisis the tendency for the quantity of coal sold to exceed. the tonnage recordedat the pit top weigh machine on which the piece-workers wages were caleulated.trGains in weight't were achieved either by physically adjusting the pit topweigh brid.ge or by adopting a cornrention for the deduction of excessiveonn:.Eit" (oi tir" .s*rptiot that the excess was caused by stone in the coal)which was favourable to the owners. The Company d.id suffer a "loss inweight" in one half year, and this was sufficiently unusual to warrant aspecial note in the Auditorsr Report.

Another loca1 company, Blackwell, made no secret of the usual practice.I:: a notice to worlaaen issued. in 1882, the manager said:

'rI wish to remi:rd you that we only take the d.raught up to the* cwt. At an immediately ad.joining colliery, they take thedraught under the cwt.(fZ) At another co11iery, the co11ieryconsr:.nption and collierst eoals are deducted from the menrsweights. As far as these matters are eoncerned., you are morefavourably situated than any other colliery in the neighbourhood".(fB)

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At least one company in the distriet aimed to gain sufficient weight tocover its colliezy consumption right up to 1947. In the neantj-me, falsetonnage figures had been produced. for a rather different reason. The sellingschemes introduced wj-th statutory backing in the 19J0ts Usited the outputswhich collieries were peflnitted to produce. There was therefore an incentivefor companies to d"educt f,iom the gross weights an abnormally high rtdlrtallowancefr with the result that the amount ,.r" coal soId. frequently exceededby a wide margin the amount officially produced. The Regional SeruicesDirector of the North Midland Regional Coal Board (established. by Governmentduring the Second World ltlar) stated. that 'rhe had been approached by a memberof the personnel of a Department of Weights and. l{easures, who had raised thequestion of co11iery weights. He had stated that the weights entered intothe books were often 2J per cent. lower than the actual weights shown on theco}Iiery weighbridges".

She present writerrs view is that 2l per cent. ls an exaggeration.rt is doubtful rrhether any co11iery could regularly have exceeded itsquota by such a margln without being detected. But whatever the marginmay have been, output figures were widely falsified. (19)

Sou$h Normanton closed as a coal producing unit in 1952, but the shaftsremained open for pumpi:rg, ventilation and as an emergency means of egressfor Brooid:i1l Colliery until 1969. The surface buildings have been put toa variety of uses.

A physical- examination of the shafts, buildings and plant reinforcesthe irapresslon conveyed by the early financial aeeounts of the Company thatSouth Normanton colliery was built rron the cheap'f. fhe two shafts were ofa vetTr smalL diameter - about 10 ft. In the upeast shaft, which was usedfor winding materials, there was only a singre cage. The steam windingengines in use at Vesting Day were antiquated., md so too were the nsechanical.fan and the electrical generating equlpment. The nain winding engine,installed second-hand in 1917, was made in 1902, whilst the other (upcast)winder was used. for surface haulage too. ,.'-,n:e of the buildings show evidenceof unsound constnrction, besides being genrally inadequate and., at VestingDay, dingy and 'ill-maintained.

The prrpose of the Companyrs promoters was to obtain a quick return ontheir capital. No great amount of money was ploughed baek into the businessin the period. covered by this article.

Several of the early auditors' reports remind the Company of theneed to allow for depreciation. rnstead of maklng regular provisionfor depreciation, however, the company (rixe many other co11iery orn"rs)wrote down the capital spasmodically, depending on the financial outtlrn ofits yearrs transactions. For example, in the half-year ended 28th Febnrary19(]1, at thc height of the boom, g7r5oo was witten off. This umisuallygencrous provi-sion was cleariy mad.e only because of the exceptionallyfavourable tradilg conditions whj-ch had enabled the Company to pay lCr per eent.

-2rg-

28th February i-901 shows the following position:

on its ordinary shares in October 1900 and a further I0 per cqrt. on

2ath Februarv 1gor. (eo)

Of course, some material investment took place during the period1894-1907; but had the company been set on expanding the scale of itsoperations much more would have been done. The Balance Sheet for

fllaterial Assets at 28th Febmarv 1903

Investment in fixed. plant anl machineryto 28th February 1902

Add Expend.iture d.uring year to 28thFebmary 1903

Less d.epreciation from profits to 28thtr'ebmary 1!01

Branch line:Febnrary 1902

Erpenditure to 28th

Less depreciation from profits to 28thFebruary 1901

House Property: Expenditure during yearending 28th Febmary 1902

Add Expenditure d"uring year ending 28thFebruary 1903

( er)

Original cost of opening out the co}Iiery,(includins bu-ild.ings, but not plant orequipment) up to 28th Febn:ary l9O2

Less depreciation from profits to 28thFcbmary 1902

f9,829

f,6,929

sJr ooo

*6,99o

i2,712

89,702

cI,961

8:l ,'N,11

&2,047

€519

sl_,428

c504

aLgS

a797

It will- be seen from this thrt ad.ditional material investment, overand above that entailed jn eonmerieing operations' was mininal"

Another indication of the attitude of mind of those who ran the

-22U

cornpany is that, alone of the local co11iery proprietors, they did notintrod.uce safety lamps in this period. rnstead, candles, prtvided by theworlonen themselves, were in use until the I9JOts. Electric lighting onthe surface was, it is tzle, provided. by a L00 h.p. generator instalred in1904 \22) but in most other respects South Normanton remained technologicallybackward.

flhe Company was fortunate in ttra.t the Boer War boom occurred. whiLst itwas still worki:rg good coal at no great clistance from the Pit Bottom. Hadits directors been wiso they would have ploughed back a greater share ofthe gross profits thm rnade. Future efficiency ras sacrificed to presentprofit, but this was not uncommon among sma, r- coalowners working on shortleases.

In the event, the undertaklng was i11-fitted to face the difficulttrad.ing conditions of the inter-war poriott. lrlhilst stil1 little nore thana quarter-century old, South Normanton was regarded loca]Iy as decreplt.Indecd, it is surprising that it 1astcd as long as it did.

Info:rration compiled in January l-959 shows that alone of the Nottinghamshireand district col1iery companies, south Normanton made losses in 193T and19]8. fts cutput at 1201581 tons in 193? and tll-r?.Lg tons in 19JB r,raslower than that of any other colliery company (and probably of any individualeolliery Qil in the district.

ltlhen a measure of Government control was imposed. on the industly in1942, two coIIiery companies in Nottingha-uoshire (Ctifton and South Nl::nranton)came under special sunreillance. In the ease of Clifton, a control ord.erwas made by the Minister of tr\rel and. Power in November lg42 under which anew General Manager, &d subsequently a new chairman, were appointed.

In L942 a1so, South No::nanton was receiving help und.er the Itneeessitousundertakingstr scheme. It was reported that the Managing Director of thecompany was almost B0 years of age, the electrician in charge was over ?0,and that one in seven of the 550 men employed underground was incapable ofa fu1l week's work. The output in OctoberAovember t94z was arorrnd 500tons a day, slightly better than it had been previously (tfrougn Little morethan in,the earry years of the century). ortput per man shift, (27"36 cwts.t,verall) was poor by Nottjnghamshire standar"ls and the Company was runningat a considerable loss.

ft was also alleged that some of the men whose nanes appeared. on thebooks were dead, &d that payments were being made to their relatives.tr\Ether, it was consj-dered that mechanical brealgiowns were over-frequent and.that the general managelnent of the company was lnadequate. Accordinslv.the Regional Control installed a Teehnical Supervisor and a Financial-Aiviser.(24)Latcr, the Manager, I1r. Gordon Mein, was d"ismissed and an outsid.er, Mr. peterHarley, appointed by the Ministry.

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ft is not surprising that South No:manton shou10 have been the firstcoliiery in the district to be closed by the National CoaI 3oard. Thereuere nany snall mines in the d,istrict older than South Normanton, some ofthem working difficult seams. In these other cases, technical improvementswere mad.e to rnintain viability, but South Normanton was not worth spend.ingmoney on - the reser\res of coal in the area could best be worked frora otherpits uhich had been more sensibly plannea. (Zf)

Note on Sourees

Except where otherwise stated, the info:mation jn this article lsderived from Manuscript Accounts for the years LB97-L9O7. For some yearsthere are complete Auditorsr Reports to which are annexed Balance Sheets,Profit & Loss Aecounts, Lists of Creditors and Debtors, Journal Entries,etc. tr'or other years there are final accounts only and for other yearsagain there are trial balances.

These are in the authorfs possession.

References

(t) Catalogue of Abandoned Mines, Lond.on, (ti.l,t.s. o.) tgzg.

(e) J. E. Williams, The Derbyshire Minersr, Lond.on, J962, p.ZO4.F. S. Qgden, rrStanloy Kilburn Colliery't, Derbyshire Miscellany,Vo1.V No.1, p.37. Denby (lnrry Lowe) Correspondenee Bc,ok for 1885.

3)(+)

(r)

(e)

(z)

(e)

(g)

(ro)

(rr)

Directors Reports LB91-1903.

&rlnersr Directory of Derbyshire, 1895.

Aud"i.torsr Report 28th February 1894.

Aud.itorsr Report, 28th Febmary 1898.

Directorsr Report & Accounts, 28,2.190I.

Balance Sheets, 28.2.1894 and 28,2.190r.

A. R. Griffin "The Nottinghamshire Coalfield 1550-194?" (typescript1963, II p.14 (subsequently Cited as The Notts. Coalfield).

Aud.itorst Repozt, Jlst August 1894.

Shaft capacity was arowrd 600 to 700 tons a shif,t fron 19JT when aIarger (seeond hand) winding engine was installed. It is not unsafeto infer, therefore, that shaft eapacity in 1901 was eonsiderablybelow this.

-222-

(rz)

(r:)A. R. Grifftn [The MLners of Nottinghamshire'r Nottinghan 1956 T pp.t31-L39.

ibid, pp.llo-J- rrBasis rates" theoretically were the rates actual_ry paidin ]B8B but in praetice were subject to revision at pit }evel. Th;Notts. Minersr Association zuccessfully forced up almost all basis rates.See J.W.F. Rowe, Wages in the Coal Industry, London 1922, passim.

The Notts coalfierd rr pp.lzG].zz. ['he company openecl a new co11iery,Bentinck, in 1896.The figures have been rounded off, and they rerate to wages onry(i- l. salaries excluded).

(t:) The reason for thls is that the same numbers of nen are need.ed to nanthe haulage roads, pit bottom and pit top for a small tonnage as fora large one (unless the number of coal faces worked ls reduced. inwhlch case savir:gs can be made in haulage Labour eosts). fn the caseof the New Hucisrall company, the developnent of the new Bentinckcorriery, which opened in 1896, enabred the company to increase itsoutput substantially over this period (1B9T-I902) without increasingthe size of its labour force"

( ra)

(rz)

The Notts. Coalfield r1, p.114.

E.g. srrpposing a tub of coal weighed 12f cwt., the Brackwerr companywould credit the men with 121 cwt. whereas some other companies wouraonly credit 12 cwt.

Blac}cwell Notice noot (Ms.).

Minutes of North Midland Regionar coar Board., Nor. rst 1943 anclBth May 1944, cited Griffin, I'The Notts. Coal_field'r, IfI, 106-?.At the earlier meeting the chairman of the Boartt said that thefalse weight figures probably derived from the pre-war Qraota scheme.

The holders of the equity benefited greatry in ilris perlod. from thehigh gearing of the Companyrs eapital strrrcture.

(zr) Printed Balence sireet, year ending 28th Febmarv t907, This arsoshows the following Assets:

Moveable ltems, Sund.ries (Too1s, loose p)-ant etc) €a,aZgWagons f.925

in ad.dition to debts due to the Company, Cash and Short Rents totalling85' 49t '

(zz1 J. E. tr,Iil1iams, op.cit . t p.2o9. The company were also among the firstin the district to use electrie coal cutters. This was no doubt dueto the need to reduce the conparatively high face labour cost. Anotherhigh cost pit, Sutton, introduced a cutting maehine as early as 1995.

(r+)

(re)

(rg)

(zo)

(zt)

(z+)

(zt)

-221\

This cannot be stated categorically because some eomparlies had severalcollieries whose outputs were aggregated. See Griffin, The Notts.Coa1fie1d., fIT, p.111. It is udortunate that information for theintervening period (i.e. f9O7 to 19JO's) is not avail-able. TheCompany probably remained profitable until the mid-1920rs.

ibid, pp.l2J-L24. Despite the losses being sustained, the Meins werereluctant to relinquieh control. They claim that they were about todevelop 400 acres of High Hazel coal which still remains u,nworked.They also proudly cleim that they never had a local strike.

I:r fairness to the South Normanton Company, it shoultt be rememberedthat the original lease was for only 21 years with a possibleextension of 7 or 14 years. Such short Leases were not conduciveto sensible forward planning.

fQT",T:.--EAEE

It is nor^I approachi::g 100 years since three To11 Sars near Buxton ceasedto exist, these vere at Cowdale and Bmshfield on the road to A.shford, mdat Miln House Dare later called Millers Dare. r am anxious to tracephotograpbs or other illustrations of the To11 Houses which might be includedin a history of the Ashford and hrxton, Tideswell and B1ackwe1l, and Fxlensorand Ashford rurnpike Roads. [he Toll Bars were abolished on the JrstOctober 1B7B irtren two of the To11 Houses, which belonged to the Tmstees,were sold - cowdale for €85 and. Millers Dale for €,100. Ihe cowclaLe Barconsisted of a smaLl TolI House with a garden at the end remote to Buxton,some tirne after the sale four two storey eottages were built on the site andthese in turn were taken d.own in 1961. I have been given photographs ofthese, br:t would 1ike, if possible, to obtain one of the actual To11 House.The Millers Dale To11 Bar was by the bridge with a gate and also a ehain,some alterations were made here in Febnrary 1855 in vtew of altered traffici.n corurection with the constmction of the railway. Irrcidentally, eonsiderationwas given in February 1866 to taling dor,m the Cowdale Bar and rebuild"ing it200 or 300 yards further from Erxton beeause of dangea from the railway work.

Those passing through these two Sars were given a ticket whieh permittedthem to pass through the second one at a loner charge, and I would like theopportunity of seeing some of these tickets if any should stiLl be in existance.There was a similar arrangement at the two Bars on the Edensor and Ashfordsection of road, the tickets were small ones about Jin. square, biue forRowdale and yel1ow for Birchill. A photcgraph of Rorydale To11 Bar in itsoriginal condition is available, and it is hoped that photographs of sone ofthe others may be located.

My grand.father, Robert rhornhill, was the last $lryeyor of the roadsfron 1865 until the close of ttre turnpike Trust towards the end. of 18J8,and many of his records came into my possession.

Robert ?hornhill

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I,IRS DELAIfII AI{ EIffITEIA0IH Cu{Tirny VISIT0R T0 DmBySlIlRE

by

NeII Thonas

In Septenbet L756, Mrs. Delany, acconpanied by her husband, Dean De&.arrtrr,stayed with the second Duehess of Portland at Welbeck Abbey. lrtrhilst thereshe wrote to her sister Ann, Ivlrs. Dewes of lfellesbourne in lfa:mickshire onSepteurber ?th, 14th and. I$th, of her journey to !trelbeck and her excursionsinto Derbyshire.

Mrs. Dewest great-granct-daughter, Irady Llanover, etlited rf[he .hrtobiographyand Correspondence of Mrs. De1an3/rin 1861-2. The Autobiography is not finished.Tt was started to please the Duchess of Portland. She and Mrs. Delany weregreat friends frcn lT54 until she dled in 1?85. Mrs. Delany lived frrn 1700to 1788.

This was a ltonderful friendship and after the Deants d.eath in 1J6B theyspeat roore time together than apart. They were welconed ever3nrhere, bnrtwhen other conpany was absent were nore than happy following their coruroninterests.

Lady Llanover collected letters to and frpn Mrs. Delany, arrd othersrelevarrt to the period. There are six volumes altogether, and. they nakefascinating reading for anyone interested in the social life of the eighteenthcentury. ft was an age of letter writing and the witty and lively Lettersof l4rs. Delany confirn the eighteenth centr:ry opinion of her, as a remarkableworlan of admirable taste, a skilled artist, an embroid.eress, a musiclan anda botanist, as well as a woman of great social distinction.

The lotter dated Septemher ]th inform.s Mrs. Dewes of the safe arrival ofthe Delanys at !trelbeck. They had come by coaeh fron llellesbour:re, and. hadvisited Papplewick, the seat of I'lr, Montague, before arivi-r:g at We1beck.Stre tells how they had. lost their way, and had diverted to Wollaton trto getintelligencerr---rrlord Middleton's (Wotterton HalI), where we stopped to getintelligence for our way to Papplewick, is one of the finest build.ings Iever saw, about as old as Queen ELlzabeth. It stands upon an eninence; theg:ardens seem to be laid out in the old-fashioned way of ninee-pies, arbours,and sugarloaf yews: the park is very fine, and stocked with beautiful deer.---pspplewick is.ruch improved since I saw it, but they have no gard.m,only a fine field (whlch was divided. into ten); they have now taken thehedges and. only left the best of the trees here and there that did not toouueh intercept their view, which is a very fine one. fhe ground rises intwo hil1s to the right and to the 1eft, the house stands facing the valleybetween, and the verdure is as fjne as ean be. Mr. Montague keeps the waLkspared and rolled quite round. the field, at the bottom of which m,s the river

-225_

Lean, a very pretty brook that mns briskly and fofnns two or three cascad.esas it winds. There are spots planted by the side of it of flor^rers andflowering shnrbs, and seats placed; and in the most retired part, and i-nview of two of the cascades, is a temple or covered, seat, nhich I gave thema plan for 14 years agol The prettiness of the p1,ace is its being perfectlyn:ra1 and madc with such little elpense, as may be d.one in any plaee thoughthe ground. may not lie quite so ad.vantageously; the walk round theirimprovement is just one measured mile.--*-[his place (WefUect<) is real]ymagnificent, though the outward appearance of the house is by no meansanswerable to its goodness within. There is a fine lawn before the house,encompassed with woods of the finest oak f ever sar,/; the park is fine andcapable of great improvements, which will soon be set about. There is avalIey of many aeres that nrns through that part of the- park which isvisible from the house that is to be floated, and wiu make a nobLe pieceof waterg a sma11 river rrrns through it now, and they canic-ti$n:xrj d,,sd .,.: .

rnuch water as they please"----I don't ltrlow how to give you srch adescription of the house as will r,:ke it plain to you; the roons arenumerous, large, and thoroughly well furnishedi---*-and. the Gothic Ha1I,which for worlsanship in the true Gothic taste exceeds everything f haveseen of the kind.. The chapel is to be new hrilt in the same taste; theal-terations Lady Oford made in this place cost above forty thousandpoundsrr.

Lady Odord was the Duchess's mother.

l'{rs. Delany also mentions their visiting Norvrood Park, Thoresby andWorksop----rtMuch magnificence I have seen in this country; Iawns, vastwoods, palaces of houses, but nothing so pretty as Calwichr'"

Calwich Abbey in Staffordshire had been purchased, by lvlrs. Delanytsunnarried brother Bernard Granville in 1758. she and Ann had given hinmuch ad.vice, as to thc laying out of the gard.en and the furnishing of thehouse. Bernard had. inherited the fortune of Lord Lansd.ol'rne, their uncleand their father's brother"

The second. letter written on september l4th is very short. ',r haveundertaken to set the Duchess of Poztland's miniatures in order, as she doesnot like to trust them to anybody e1se, and for warrt of proper airing theyare in d.anger of being spoilt. Such Petitots! such Oliversl and. suchcoopers! You may believe the employment is not uripleasant: this, withgoing to see places and assisting the Duchess to sort her papers in anevening after our walks, employs alnost every hour of the daytt-----

This gives us a dclightful p-r-trrre of the two friend.s together.The third letter written on September 19th tell"s of their expeditions jntoDerbyshire.

----rtlast Wednesday we took a walk to a place called Creswell Crags,with tire Duchess, her fair flock, D.D., l,Ir. smalrwall, Lord ritchfieldrs

-226-

tutor, and one of the Dukets stewarrls to show us the way, and two pioneersto revel all before us. At least a dozen stiles were l-aid frat, pathscut through thickets of branbles and briars, and brid.ges made in swampy places;the length of the way conprted. at about two miles and a half. A resolutionwas taken on setting out not to delay the walk by simpling, so we onlysnatched at any curious grass or flower in our way, and stuffed it in ourblack apron pockets to observe upon at our return round the tea table.

The place we went to was well worth our pains. It is a litt1e Matlock;two ranges of rocks, towering as it were in rirmlsbitp of one another,feathered w"ith wood, embossed with ivy, diversified with caves and. cliffs.Between the ronges runs a clear brook bubbling along. cottages here andthere, patches of verdure with sheep feeding, and some climbing and. standingon the pinnacles of the rocks like goats. ?here are a few cottages, andnear the end of the range, which I believe is about a querter of a nire orbetter, there is a mil}, and a cascade farls from the ni]l-poo1 into thebrook, and there the pr"ospect opms to a fine and extensive view of Derbysh|3s---f was too much entertained. with the scene to lose sight of it one moment,eurd whilst the young people scampered about and beautified, it, I took aninperfect sketeh of one part. ft was quite dark when we got home, but thor.rghmirch tired none of us got any cold".

How shouLd we describe Creswell Crags to-d"ay?

---rrYesterday the Duke of Portland, the two young ladies, and 0.D.,went in thc coaeh, the Duchess and I in the post-chaise, to Bolsover Casile.Exccssively bad road, but ways were opened through fields and places patchedu.p for us that made it possible. rt is a most delightful spoi, one of thenost pleasing views without water I ever saw, and there is a singularity andprettiness in the castle that r donrt lcrow how to do justice to. rt i;sma1l, but a nost complete and conrpact house: it is a square building, withturyets on each side of the gate, to the court, to wh:ich you ascend by-aflight of steps, there are tno square towers r,sith battlements, which serveas porterrs lodges. The court is not large, but surrounded with warrsand battlements: to the porch of the castle there is another fught ofsteps. fhe porch is arched, the workmanship plain anil neat: you enter apassage; on the left a pretty little parlour, on the right a large ha11supported. by two pillars, from which spring arches and neet w"itn otherarches from the sldes of the haIl that form a very pretty ceiling. ort ofthis hal1 you go into a rarge parlour, which seems about 20 ft. square,supportetl by a single Gothic pl11ar; the wainscoating bronn, edged. wiih gold,with arches round the roon of fine stone, the ceilings of all this floorarched. in the sane manners tho carving neat, all- Gothic, afld so are thechinney-pieces. To d.escribe it minutely would take up too much tine, butfrom the ceIlar to the leads it is a most complete, convenient and prettydwe11ing. O: the second floor, a fine dining-roon and three good Led-cLambers;the third floor is lighted by an octagon sky-1ight, with four arches errd fourniches that Iead you to four bedchambers, and as many dressing-rooms.

-12. l-

It has been a neglected place for many years, was built b34,a sonof Bess of Hardwicke, at the latter end of Queen Etizabeth or beginning ofKing James the First. William Cavendish, the firpt Drke of Newcastle,added to this litt1e c:rstl-o a range of buildings on pu.rpose to entertainKing Charles the First, eonsisting of a guard.room, bed.-chamber, d.ressing-roondrawing-roon, and a most sumptuous gallery, and a ridir:g-house adjoini::g,but nothing now remains but the walls of that building. That Duke ofNewcastl-e also entertained King Charles the First in Welbeck Park, r:ndermagnificent tents, erected for him and his noblesrr.

Iilrs. Del,.any seems to have had great affection for Mrtloek. Uedo not hear of hcr visiting it, ,':rlthough Matlock was one of the nany Spasof the eighteentk ecntury. Annrs daughter, MarT, recei-ved. a letter fromtrtlhiteha]I, fron her aunt, (Ws. Oetany) aatea Auguot 25th L7@

-----trl hope you will have fair ueather for yqur Metlock jaunt; Ishall in ny imagiaation enjoy some of its romantic scenes with you. theDuchess has shown me Fr sea-caterpillar she h:s in spirits, which was foundat Burton, that is beautiful; it is one of the haizy ones, but all thehairs, or bristles, look like a rainbowrr.

Mrs. Delany does not have the s,me affection for Brrxton, The 4thof september 1766, she writes to viscountess Andover, "f rejoiee that ouraminble friend (Duch"ss of Portlnnd) tr"s for:nd so ffirch bcnefit from Buxton,and hope no perplerties will undo what she has gaj+ed so dearly, for by al1accounts Br-rxton is a shoeking; place; but the blessing of health is worth astate of trialrr.

I,trtri1st st Suxton the Du-chess rrriites to Bernardat Calwich. ile had introd.uced her to Rousseau, w?1o

into the Peak in search of plants. Rousseau livodthe house being lent to him by Mr. Davenport.

Granville,had acconpanied her

for a time at Wootton,

I'The Duchess of Portland. prescnts her best compliments----She hassent a few plants to Mr. Rousseau.-----She found the great tufted, wood vetehgrowing upon a high sand.y hill going froro Oakcver to Brcdley Ash Parkrt.

.Another friend interested in flowers is ltiss Hrmilton, and in 1?G7and again in 1766 she rnade lists of the flowers in the Peak of Derbyshire.These are included by Lady Llanover.

t761

Giant-throat lfortShining Downfoot CranesbillGreat ye1J-ow HearteaseClimbi-ng FumitoryHorn MossMyrtle-Ieaved CranberryApple RoseScarlet Cup Moss

1766

Ifuotted ParsleyPurple and YeLlow HeartseaseGreat tufted Wood. VotchBrittle FerfrLancashire Ashphod.elMountain A'fernaCloud BerriesMarsh SaxifrageBloody Cranesbill

-22A-

Land.scaping rlf gardens and parks was of great interst in the eighteenthcentury. Ivlrs. Dewes writes to Bernard Granville from Wellesbouzne onJune l4th L756--

rrYour gard.en----it is said to outdo any of the wonders of the Peak.---Itrs. Hayes, who is just retu-tned. from l{rs. Fitzherbert's says, Calwichis reputed bJ, everybody to be rnuch the prettiest plece in the two counticsof Stafford and Derbyshirefr----

In July L774 Mary Dewes married John Port of f1am. Mrs. Delanyenswering a letter fron trvLrry tlescribing a visit to M.atlock makes theseremarks----trI am glad you aet with sociable people in your miseellaneousassembly to make anends for the crowd. A crowd 1n such a scene as Matlockseems most ururatural, rather calculated. for solitude and contemplation, butas it tends rather to melancholy in some of its gloony parts, a cheerfulbeam is necessary now and then to give a fillip to the spirits, like the sundarting thnr? a wood which enlivens without robbing you of the shadett.

trflr:t would she think of Matlock to-day?

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Sntique l{aps ard their Cartograijhers by Raymond Lister. G. Bell & Sons Lta.1970, price .12 15s. 0d.

ls reprodueed rith L15facsirnile ftaps 5 in col and s title pages ln color.rr ,C60.Detailed illustrated prospectus fron t'I. Heffer & Sons Limited, 20 TrinityStreet, Cambridge CB2 lNG.

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JOI]N WIGIET OF WIGWEI,T

by

Derek A. Wigley

(continued from D.14. Vot V wo.l)

Part II The Troublcd Years

I:revitably uirksworth and Jchn Wigley hirnself, had to beeome jnvolvedin the quarrel between Charled I and his Parliamept. A number of Derbyshiregentle:men had drawn up a petition praying IIis Majesty to 'rreturn to Parliamentand redress grievancesrr. Among the signetrrns *"re John Ge1l, JohnSpatem,rn and John Wigley"

During the nerb few months tension began to nount. John ltrigley wouldhc.ve been kopt infomretl of events thror.gh John Getr_l and John curzon Iu.p.at that tinc) John Oc1lts step-brother.

By Jr:ne 1542 King charLes deterzrined to take action and ordercdrr0ornrnissiono of Array". Henry Ihstings called hj.s men into service and.many miners were caIled away. Some of these went intc Leicesterbbireand Johnrs cousins at Scraptoft complied..

Apart from those who had. already committed ttrenselves, most of theDerbyshire families apparentry hoped that they woral-d be abie to remainunconmitted. fhe Kiag, however, was moving ecroEs the country calling hisIoyal subjects to attend. him. He came to Nottingham and his standard wasraised. The news was brought to Derby - but how it was received may bededucbd': from a note in All Hallowes register: "The 22 of th:is A,rgusterrectum fuit Nottingharniae Vexillum Regale. Matt XIf 25r'. (fV"rv Klngdoradivid.ed against itself is brought to desolation).

trtrhen the King came to Derby a few days later the Trs.ined B.qnds werec.e11ed to attend him -. but having dorre this they were disa:med. strortlyafter the King's departure towazds Woreester two 'lalleged. Papistsrt went toWirksworth and h.aving recruited. some men for the King's s"roicu they beganpillnging.

Nothing could have been better calculated to arouse the people ofWirksworth against the Kingrs ceuse. By some me&ns John Ge1l was advisedthat he should go to Sir John Hoth".m at llull where illoyrltt forces were tobe supplied to him, so at the end of september he rode there taking hisbrother Thomas with h:irn.

A fsw days later Sir trhancis lilortIey eame into Wirksworth with somemen whom he put into winter quarters. This nay have caused. some d.isquiet

_230-

to John Wigley and his family, particularly si.nce Bridget was with child andher tine wes near. Or 0etober 14th she gave birth to a son. For a. few,probably very trying, d.ays they awaited the return of Sir John Ge1I. (Fora more complete account of Sir John Oellrs activities see the GeII and Gresleyaccounts in Glover Vo1"1) 0rT October 26th, after reeeiving a rebi.rke fromthe Sheriff and. others, Sir John approached Wirksworth. At this Sir Francisi{ortley departed. Reports suggest thrt there was no desire for a trial- ofstrength - rather a desire to avoid bas,,T*,1$if:.Ii,Im Ge1l recmited. rnore meninelud.ing John Molanus, who was agent for Cornelius Ve:muyden, and whose honewas i-n Middleton where his first son was born in Lfi32. Molanus showed nosma1l anount of railitary talent during the nert few years. For the nerttwo weeks ColoneL Gell- was fu1ly occupied securing Derby and reeruiting,he then returned to Wirksworth for his grandsonrs christening. This tookplace on November Bth. fhe occasion was strained when it should hhve beenjoyous. Itlr. Topham, the Vic,ar, mrst have bcen dis$urbed, - for the name hewrote in the Register lras John - but the entry book states the name Henry.John was born on March 7t]n 1644, but there is no record of his baptism inthe Register. Ilenry's menorial in \nlirksworth church shows his age as 42 yearsin 1684. For severd- ycars the entries in the registers are verlr sparse.Almost i.:crmediately Sir John was ca11ed away and routed Sir Francis lrlortleyat Da1.e" For several nonths there was little nilitary activity in Derbyshire,but in January of t643 (Ztir) Parli-ament ordered a declaration to be read. inchr.rches urging the necessity of a subscription in money or p1ate. Needlessto say everyone was erpected to psy; except those with less than €100 inproperty. A number of those of Royalist conviction seened to have feltunconfortable jn their own homes and moved. into the Kingts garisons -among these were kinsfolk of Sir John GeIl and John Wigley.

It seemed that the stmggle was to be prolonged and. Parliament neededto raise money to pay and feed its forees. Ilaving d.eterminett the amour:tthat erch county should pay, County Comdttees were set up to raise it.&long the seventeen members of the first Derbyshire conmittee were Sir GeorgeGrcsley, Sir John Curzon, Sir John Ge11 and. John liligley. The onus ofcollecting the money devolved. on the parish- constables. (See Civil i,Iar Papersotr tlie Uonstable of llope. F. Fisher, D.a.;. ) tfre remaind.er of the year wasvery active rith minor skirmishes and raids disnipting narkets and no::nalbusiness. By December much of the county was held by Royalist forces.Colonel Gellrs m:mbers had. been d.cpleted. when he gave assistance to Fairfax::rd Plmrs death (December 8th) gave hope to the Kine that the end might notbe far off. Meanwhile, Parliament, wlth Scots support and advice, tookthe unfortr:nate step of deelaring Christmas to be a normal working d.ay.

After a depressi:rg Christmas and. a week of snow when the road.s wereinrpassable, King Charles prepared to Open his own Parliament at O:cford..In the meantine the Scots army was on the move and Parliament was d.eterrr:iningan oction against Newark, where most of the Derbyshire forees were senttowards the end of Febmary.

Early in March 1544 Bridget Wigley gave birth to her second. son. He

*add.5?04

'25t'

was bepttsed John on March ]th. .lhis time Sir John Ge1I was the Godfather.In normal time he would have been very h,appy to have celebrated. the occasionwith two Godsons, father and son, but the situation was far from peaeeful.Due to Scottish j.:rfluence the Common Prayer Book was abolished (by order ofParl-iament on March L3l]n 1544) *rd a new manual was I-ssued., (Thc Direetoryof lforship). Presbyterianism was established cs the official rcligion ofthe whole country. There was one difference fron the Scottish practice,snd that was the sennon. Many "Independ.antsrt includ.ing CronwelL had workedhard for its retention. This would have given nmch satisfaction to JohnWigley and his kinsfolk.

Military sorti.es and engagements continried in the county until Wingfidld.felI jl August after which the civil adrninistratlon was ea"sier. In theroeantj$e the religious Life of the country was organi-sed under the '[,IestminsterAssernbly of Divines. The local assennbly was calLed a rClassisr. JohnWigley was not hinself active in the }'lirksworth C1*Lsgis but three of hisbrothers-in-Jaw were. T'homas Shelmerd.ine, Vicar of Crieh since 1629, wasone. He h"rd married Faith trligley i,n.7633. They had three children,Ephraim, (who died in infancy in 161?) Mary and Daniel. Daniel was to beordained by the Classis in 1657. Of Thomas Shelmerd.ine, Calamy laterwrote'tHe was a:loving husband to an holy but very melancholy wiferr. In1652 Thomas Shelnerdine noved to the benefice of' Matl-ock"

Martin Topham, viear of wlrksworth, was the seeond, He was rnaryiedto Johnrs eld.est sister Elizabeth" They had at least one chilC, Roberte,uho d,ied. in 1655. trfhilst ttre relationships are not clear, it is of interestto note that Joan Topham, wid.ow, nerried a }Ienry iiigiey on April gtln 1655"This is even more interesting since a law had been passed in 1653 allowingsolemrisation of marriages by a Justice of the Peace on1y. Many rebelledand marriages rrere performed by cJergy - often seque$tered ones, then by.I,P.'s. The 1,r,w was removed from statute in 1657 although marriage byJ.P. rernained as an alternative.

The other brother-in-law who se:rred on the Classis was Henry Buxtonof Bradbourne who had married Anne. There were two children, both livingin 1662. Henry Srrxton was one of the most regular 1.ay participants ofthe Classis. Apart frorn ordering the rrclassical faststt the Classis alsocamied out ord.inations - occasionally rejecting candiaates. tr'rancis lowesubmitted himself in 165? but was not accepted for being I'scandalous inlife and. conversationrr. One may wonder if this appJ-ication by Irancis wasan attempt to reconcile his family with his neighbours after their sympathyfor the Kingrs cause had brought belligerent n.ction against them. JohnWigleyrs olrn attitud.e was probably one of acquiescence to religious control.

Jotur, and probably all the Derbyshire'oligleys, had takon the part ofParliament. John's cousins in Leicestershire stood for the King, and.the Chaworths, in Nottingharn, were for the King also. fhe Hatls of Costockmay have attempted. to remain neutral, ilId while John lligleyrs motherElizabeth must have supported. hin, her sister Jane Lo'we must equally have

-?12-

supported her husband. Eilward. Edward Lowe was later to claim that he wastoo old to have been actlve for elther side and that Colonel Ge11ts foreeshad p1r:ndered his house twenty six tines.

By the begiruring of 0ctober 1544 John Wigleyts aetivities on the CountyCommittee were mainly financial. Ore of the docr:ments bearing h:is signatureorders palment to Thomas Needham of Castleton for "a fatt cow taken from himand futployed. in the service of Parliaaent'r. Most of the memorand.a weresigned. by Receiver Bretland. One or two concemed the raising of forces,mairlly for use in the county, but one dated May llst (f0+f) may have beenpart of a broader plan; it calIed for all rrwell affected persons to cooewith their ams speedily...rf. Two weeks later the Kingrs army facetl theParliamentrry forces as Naseby. After twelve hours of bitter fighting theRoyal Forees finally gave way.

Early irr September King Charles passed through Derbyshire again.This time he stayed at Mrs. Cockaynef s houso,,i.n Ashbourne. 'Sho.we:a..rs ncLirieno&mi;of-.,3ir'.Tohn G611. fltrere was no major skirnish at this tine and.,Darlteddnt'eehcild en Derbyshire was very secure.

The story of the nert few years can be told in part from the memorandaof tJ:e various commj.ttees. Parlianent was feeling more confident ofvictory and on July lJth 1645 a note was written by the Comnittee ofCompounding to the County Comnittee..."the inhabitants of Derby haveexpressed great fidelity to Parliament by assistance and contributions tobhe defence of religion, laws and liberty, j-nvaded and endangered by aPopish and malignant party and as the labours of the ninisters there havebeen the chief neans of upholding the peoples affections any, yet theirmaintenance is very surall - the rents of the land.s of the Dean and. Chapterof Leicester now in lease to John Bullock, delinquent, in St. Allmnxrd.s arrd.ALlhallows parishes exceeding €100 to be settled on the corporation ofDerby for the maj-ntenance of the ministersrr.

King Charles surrendered to the Scots the following l{ay and gave ordersfor the surrender of his remaining garrisons. Tutbury was one of these.Parlia.ment felt that it could function safely although it began to fearits own large amy

0n August 28th an order was made by Corunons on the petition of theConmissioners for the County of Derby and of the Derbyshire regiments ofhorse and foot, that the forces of Derbyshire should be disbanded lles theynow be quartered., and paid. their proportions in their quarters and withoutbeing drawn to any rendezvous, and. that the officers should give a speedyaccount. Also that 85,000 be aLlowed to the County of Derby out of thecompositions of its delinquents, the €1200 taken up out of those of SirJohn Harpur and Sir l{enry Hunlock to be part thereof. The remaind.er tobe paid. to the said forces on their disbanding and the arrears of theofficers audited., the sald suns to be paid. by the Connittee at GoldsmithsrlIal1 to Sir John Curzon and to Sir John Coke". "...the County committee(to) return to the Committee at Goldsmiths' Ha11 a certificate of alld.elinquents of their county sequestered since the beginning of ttrese unhappywars; this to be done before the said noney is paiclr!.

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The list was mad.e and despatched but on Septeriber /,th Six GeorgeGresley, John Wigley and. tfiIliam Wigfa11, Commissioners, wrote to GoldsmithsrIIa11 I'we refused to join in a certificate by other$ of the committee beeausethey omit the nasies of Sir Edward Coke, Sir Sam Sleigh, Thomas l.tunday,Rowland Morewood and Edward Pegge as being sequestdred but discharged.We think their discharge was unlawfully eontrived and it was laithoutapprobation'r.

0n 0ctober Bth a further order for disbandment was made, this timeapparently with more success. Sir .Tohn GelI was not satj-sfied that allthe delinquents had been named for on October 20th he laid informationthat Henry Vernon son of Sir Edward Vernon had borrie arms against Parliament.

Infornation had been laid against some of Sir John's kin a1so, and thecase of the Cockaynes is of interest. On Decembef 17th Ann Cockayne and.her son, Sir Aston, were ass6€,Sed at €1500. Or March Bth 1648 an orderwas made to sequester the estate for non payment. (): June 27th 1649 theAssessment was discharged on paytr-;rt of .C20 - "it appearing that she isno delinquent or compounds at Goldsmithsl l1aLl".

All appeared welI, but on January lOth 1651 orle Richard Thompson laidinformation ttrat I'she furnished her son with horse and a:ms to serveagainst ParLiament: sent her goods to Tutbury a Ki.ng's garrison for safety,visited the King while he was there, went voluntarlly to Tutbury Castle andliewark when they were King's garrisons and compoundled withthe said garrisons't.Richard. Thompson persisted - and in this petition of 21st March we see rdhy -He starts by saying that in 1545 he prosecuted IIrs. Cockayne for delinquency,but was obstnrcted becarrse she was related to Sir John GelI who was potentln these parts. Having given bond now to prosecute her he begs an orderfor exanination of witnesses and a fifth for himseff as discoverer! Thesame day the county commissioners were instmcted to take examinations.0n July l8th an order to pay €J0 was nade, and thiS was folLowed by anas,sessment on August J-Stb al €1500. $ir Aston requested that having paidhis €10 as ordered. he nay have protection from arrqst that he may appearbefore them and be heard about his d.ebts which wer6 very heavy (lWg).His appeaf was partially suecessful for the committee ordered. that the €,J0be repaid.

At the beginning of Febmary 1545 John and Brfdget Wigley baptisedtheir last chiId.. l,t. CoI. Thomas GelI was the god.father. Unfortunately,none of their children lived until fifty years of aige, whereas most of theearLier Wigleys had aehieved seventy years with litt1e d,ifficulty.

The smelting and marketing of lead wes John lrli.gleyrs main business.It was actually carried on by his son John, and cousin Henry, who eventuallynade his home in Cronfoid. The Wigwell estate was primarily concerned withpasturage of aninals, sheep, cattle, pigs, horses, oxen anrl deer. Aboutfl30 worth of corn and barley was Btoltn each year, together with ClO worth ofoats and rye. To cultivate this af, idigwell John had four ploughs, three

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wains, seven yokes and. two pairs of horse harness, a dozen horses and asi^niLar number of oxen. The househoLd made its own butter and cheese andbrewed its own a1e.

r:n some respects John's character is an enigma. He wag the thirdgeneration to bo involved in publie service and during the Civil War he wasvery active. The entry book (.qaa.OZO+) gives frew clues except that he wasdevoted to his family. There is nothing to suggest that he engeged activelyin the county adroinistration after 154?.

Shortly after Cromwellrs departure for freland an insurrectlon broke outwhidr required. the re-uustering of some of the counly forces. There wasmuch suspicion and several documents suggest that Parliament, by this time,had little corrfidence in Derbyshire. fhere were plots against the Goverhmehtand. Sir John Ge11 vras accused of being involvetl in one; in 1551 he appearedbefore the Comnittee of Sequestrations. The Conmitteers notes show twofacts - the first was that in 1G44 (a different docr:ment s:ggests 164?) sirJohn had conveyed his estate to his son (John), *d the second fact was thatsir John had been found grrilty and that his estate !{as in chancery. ol ..April 17th the Cowrcil of State directed tho cornmittee not to proceed againstSir John.

In 1649 Perliaxoent, in sore need of fi::rds, deeided to reassess allrentals, sending Commissionere to aIJ. parts of the eorrntry. NeedLess tosay the new valuation was nuch higher than the original. (S.nr"y of the Sokeand Manor of Wirksworth DLI Vol.III) For example John Wigley's four acrecat the "Bydinge Headrr (niaer Point) were r€-&ssessed fron Gd.- h 3a/4.1Other Wigleys meftioned. were John's brother Edward, Ralph of IvlilLers Green(a second cousin), Willian (a first cousin) and a namesake John who was anInnholder.

Johnrs nother, Elizabeth, died in 1550 and was buried on Novenber l$th.From that tine Jolur and his f"rnily were associating ruch more vrith the Lowesand the spaternans. In May 1649 Edward Lowe (who had married Jane Hall,Elizabeth Wigley's sister) and John antl Arthur his sons,, eompound.ed rrfordelinquency in adhering to the Kingrs party tho' the father was never ina:ms a6ainst Parliarnent", 0n July 9th they were fined f22I.

New customs were beconing evident, presunably out of Presbyberianism,and a d.ifferent view of death. Lionel $r1ney who was a 1ead merehant ofIiolrnesfield and a cousj:r of Sir John 0e11 left in his Will (autua Novemberlgth i,Sfi) to/-d,, eaeh to l4rs. Brid.gett Wigley, Mrs. Elizabeth hrigfail(Henry I'Iigfall had served on the cotrnty comnittee with John I'Iigley) andMrs. Heuen Alsoppe - all of them sisters - 'rto buy then gS.ovesrr, arso z/e.to each of their children - also to buy gloves. (In tyre first decados afterthe Restoration monenr was bogueathed to br:y 'rmourning rJrrgs'r. Two examplesoccur in the WiUs ofi Thonas Wigley, Grocer, of 1675 and IIenry of !trigwell cf1584).

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, Il:I December 155J CromweLl became Lord Protector, but written into theconstitution was greater freedom of religion than there had been for scme

time. Reasonable tolerance was to be granted provided 'rPapacy and Prelacy"were not practicecl. John and Bridget Wigley brought their children up asPresb5*erians and they seem to have assoeiated most with Presbyterians inbusiness and socially. Their main associations were through the leadindustry and with the Gel1s and the Spatemans.

l'lhen the Lord. Protector dieC on September Jrd 1658 the question of hissuceessor was disputed. Richard Cromwell sueceeded but many believed thatJohn Larnbert should have done so. Derby itself was for Lambert and. d.wingthe nexb few months there were sevexal active attempts to revolt. In1650 Charles II was invited to return to England and the l{onarchy was

restored.

Part fII New Tdeas

The tr{irksworth of the Restoration was rather different from the townof eleven years earlier. Some nero businesses had been established.John Wigleyrs cousin Thomas had a gr"ocery business which was prospering.IIe married Edith IGye in 1650 and the first of thetr childrenrs (John)baptisn was one of the first entries i.n the second of the Wirksworth,"ii=tu=" (commenied in 1552). of Thomasrs chil-dren, one beeame anapothecary, two became mercers - one of them in Derby, another becarne atr'ellow of Christs College arrd a D.D. Cousins were tarners an<i innkeepers.

More furniture was appearing in houses - there wa.s a looking glass inat least one xoom. New houses were being built of three stories andad.ditional floors were added to older houses. The use of brick wasincreasing.

As Johnfs son Henry approached his twenty-third birthd,ay he wasaffianced to Ma:ry Spateman of Roadnook HaIl (Wessington) a daqhter ofJohn Spateman. fhis marriage is not recorded. in a church register so wasprobably performed by a Justlce of the leace. The baptism of their firstdaughter Anne is, however, reeorded on Oetober 19th 1667. [he godnootherwas Anne Spateman (nee Mellor). A son John was baptised on Novembet 22nd"1658. There were six children altogether, but only three d.aughterswere to survj-ve childhood. Grandfather John lcaew three of them on1y.

John and Bridget were certainly not o1d, but the tensions of theearlier years had taken their tol1. Bridgetrs father, Sir John GeIl, wasliving in London, but her brother (.loHn) w2s p- good companion and was verycepable r!ff managing the GeIl estate. For many years John Wigl.ey had beenguided by his klnsman, and had little taste for malaging his own affairs.It is not clear if this was due to lack of earlier experienee cr sircply thedesj.re to live the life of a eount-ry gentlenan. However, in eonsiderationof the marriage settlenent between Joan Spateman and Henry, John decided toput his estate in Trust.

^?.-z)o-

0n Ju:ne 14th 1570 a tripartite indenture was drawn up between JohnWigley, John GeIl and John Spateman, and Henry Wigley son and. heir apparentand Mary his wife. fhe deed stated that the marriage of John and Mary hadtaken place and in consideration of C1000 pr,:id as Maryts mamiage settlement,end other items the followi,ng estate was conveyed in trust for 500 yea.rs.The capital messuage called Wigwell HaIl and alL houses and. appurtenancesbelonging and divers messueges and l-ands in lligrrell, Wirksworth and Matlock -particularly mentioned were llolmesford, Flaxlands Meadotr, Eolbrookes fa:mr,the Breaches, the Penplates Solne Closes and. Shaw C1ose. The tmstees weleto be John Gel1 and John Spateman and. their heirs to the use of John ltrigleyfor rife then to l{enry and. his assigns then to the heirs of Henry and Mary.After the death of Henry each of the daughters was to receive €10 a yearuntil they were 21 or naried rrfor their rnaintenance. And in case suchperson to whom the reversion of the sd. premi-ses should belong d.o not payunto the sd d.aughters €1500 to be equally dj-vided amongat them when they sha1lattain their respective ages of 2l years or be married. Then they the sd.Gell and Spateman sha1l by demise or saLe of the sd. premises so limited fori00 yrs, levy and pay each of the sd daughters,their respective shares of

sd €1500 with interest at 5 p.cent tiI1 paid". (This deed is part of theabstract of title in 1701 when the estate - apart from an area lcrown asWigley Moors - was partitioned.).

The association of the Spatemans and Wigleys for the nerb thirty yearswas as,strong as the earlier association with the Ge1ls had been. About thetime of the above indenture Joshua }ligley of Senior Field. nulrried. Annadaughter of Salruel and Jemima Spateman; they went to live in Tansley.Shortly after the birth of a daughter, Millieent, Arura died and was buriedin Ashover Church. (Cox - Derbyshire Churches records the gravestone and theinscriptlon as "child of Erm,enueL Soumet'. She was, in fact, his grand-daughter. )

Twenty years later Millicent rr.arried her second cousin, Samuel Spateman.Joshua died in 1684; he too was a Presb3rterian but there was nothing soml-rreabout him. His will nentions pistols, a tobacco box, a fowling piece, abest sword and green velvet saddle, a clock and a watch. The estate ofthe Cromford Bridge branch was very substantial although not as large as}trigweII. The estates were later broken up and misappropriated - but thatis another story.

Presuriaably because the estates had already been settled John did notnake a Wi1l. IIe was the only one of four generations not to do so. Mostof his life had been lived through long periods of strife - even since theRestoration there had been foreign wars. ft:-:seems that his death wassomewhat premature at 55, but he had no doubt worked very hard to preseruethe peace 1oca1Iy. Ee was laid to rest on March 1lst 16'lJ, in a gravetrithout inscription or memorial stone.

Brid.get d.id not die until 1680 and within four years of her death llenry,the eldest son and heir, also died, probably of pneunonia. within seven

_2n_

years the estate w}ich four generations had striven to hold together wasto be broken up. (see Wigwell Grange, D.M. Vo1.1II No.B p,637).

Append.ix

It is interesting to note that as the Wirkswot'th WigJ-eys were retiringfron public 1ife, albeit local, the Scraptoft Wigl$ys were just emergi:rg.A year before Henry Wigley's death his cousin Edwa!'d of Seraptoft wascreated a lGright, and Edward's son waS to become a Member of Parliament.

addition the same 'rhonourable and lalcful nen of the countyrr were Jurors.These were Richard Vickass, Robert Walker, William Sotham, Thomas Sheppeazd,John Shepheazd, I^IilLi Twigges, Ga-brie1 Hopki.ns, RoSert Campion, John Steare,Ilugo Roome, 'i.lilIi'ifiId.er, George Po:rter, Robert Jaokson - and in ThomersrsIPll - John Aeard.

The nain d,ifferences between the two were Thogasrs possession andRelease of the Gatehouso and Richardfls possession of Wigwell

Concerning the Gatehouse, Thonas had bequeathed this I'with thirtyacres of land, twenty acres of neadow, twenty acre$ of pasture and all otherlands and tenements to a certain Eenry Chaworth, Gqnt and Marie his wife.....for ninety and nine years (and toettbhrDr heirs for five pounds)..... and onthe second day of Mareh Heriry Chaworth.....entered. and was hilnueforth sei.zedfl.fn Midd.leton Thonas held. ten cottages, fifty acres of 1and, fo:ty acres ofmeadow, forty acres of pasture and one other house with 20 acres of land,ten acres of neadow and ten acres of pasture. Algo a cctta.ge near Whitehouse(Ueyond Carslngton) and certain closes in Wirksworth called. Li-nepits,Linepits head, the Sreaches and EUis Wigleyrs Clode,(Uffis Wislev was anafe house keeper in 15?7), also a close ealled Hemry Ed.ge }ie al-so heldin Matlock a messuage and three other cott.iges neaf Cromford Bridge Endwith ]0 acres of 1and, 10 acres of meadow and ten acres of pasture, ttofwhich a parcel of them is celled Senior Fieldll. trf inalIy, there was anotherhouso in Wirlcworth with fifty acres of pasture and meadow fo:merly theperquisite of William lGriveton, Bart. All these qere heLd of the aforesaidLord IGng as of his Honour of Tutbury, part-: of thd Duehy of L,:ncaster".

Ir Richard.'s IPM it r.ras stated that Wig:ne[ arld, its appr.rrtenances lrereheLd of the King in Chief for the 40th part of one I{xiehtrs fee'r (and atotal of +0/-a. rent p"r ar*.). Tn Midateton Rietiard. had. seven housesin addition to fhomas's holdings. To take possesdion of the holdings anheir paid the suo of one year's rent and the possession was gpanted.

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BiblioEraphv

An excellent baclqground to the central period of this story is given inMiss C. V. 'tdedgewood's l'The King's Peace't and "The Kingts ltlarfr.

Further readingi 'rThe Royalists and the Puritan Reso1utlon,,, HardaereD.A.J. Vols 2, 5 ar:d 37. The Wirlsworth Clessis Minute Book.Survey of the Soake and Manor of ltrirksworth 1649.The Spateioans of Roadnooke.Glover Vol.l The Gell and Gresley Mss.lrThe use of Ca:ron 1n the Civil l,lar". R. Hayhurst.

Mss Sotrrces

Transcribed notes of the Committee of Compor:nding and Sequestration(pnO) by courtesy of Mr. F. N. Fisher. 'Ii British Museum Add.. Mss. 5685 and6704.The PErish Registers of St. Mary's, Ilirksworth.The wirls of Henry }ligrey of l4id.dleton 1610. Thonas of wirksworth t633,Richard of trtrigwe1I 1675r Joshua of Tansley.

Derbyshire l{iscellany: Sligwell Grange Vol.III No.B p.6j?.Faith Wigley's Wil1 Vo1.IV No.t p.jT.01d Henry Wigley Vo1.fV No.5 p.158.

NOTES AXID QUM.IES

Bras onts First ion of Local Treasures

This Exhibition has created considerable interest, both amorrgst thevisitors and amongst those who stageal it, arrd it has become a talking pointin the viIlage, and perhaps far beyond the boundaries of the pa:tish.

It came into being after a sma1l mrmber of peopl-e had spent a winterat an art elass. General comment led then to believe that ihe rest ofthe village really wanted to see what the class had aecomplished. Thenagain a small effort at showlng Old Brassington to the parishioners had.net with favourable report when, during a wakes week, parish Records and01d Maps bad been displayed by the Parish Couneil and over two hundredsignatures had been subscribed to the visitors Book. The idea of anexhibitioa began to take shape when the suggeotion for a tr'estival of Flowersin the church was turned down as being noi quite in keeping with thesurroundings" Itren came the cha11eng6.

"Let us show !o the peopre, old Brassing:ton, and 1et us try toprovide evidence of its intrabitants from the-eariiest to the present day.Let us show our chiLdren how their ancestors lived, and worke6", the tradesthat were caffied on in the viIIage, the too1s, the transport, tle homesard. contents, and the beautiful hand. nade clothesr'.

-2's9-

The Spe11 was cast! Five ladies were asked to put this plan intoaction, meeting occasionally to co-ordlnate their ideas, It was felt thatthe Church wh:ich had been the centre of village life since Saxon tiroes wouldbe used to a right and proper purlose as the setting for this display ofloca1 treasures. From this point no progress could have been made withoutthe co-operation of the local comrrunity and when hetrp was sought it wasforthcoming to such an extent that it is gratifying to put on record thatalmost without exception every home beeame involved tn some part of theexhibition. So, the venture became a community effort. 0f course it wasthe greatest fortune that the splendid eollection of stone and flint treasuresfound by Mr. and Mrs. Radford were in the village and were made available.This set the standard for the exhibition.

Thus, the very ancient was linked with the very new, th:ieugh thearchaeological specimens, the Roman pig of lead, costume, photographs, theSchool nodel of the 1ocal section of the High Peak Railway (now a track forwalking or riding) which served the quamies so well and provided employrnentfor a number of Brassington men, o1d copper, pewter, brass and silver,Vietoriana in great variety, doI1s in their d.ress of the day, the maps andrecords of the parish, the horse brasses and sadd.lery, the sadler's tools,the horse plough, the bonny rake, the yoke used when carryJng water fromone of the several welIs, the miners' 1amps, the domestic oil Iamps, thecand.les; and. finally to the display of the paintings from the Art C1assand the flora1 artistry.

It was a right decision to keep open the Exl:ibition for five days.During the latter days the question uppermost in the minds of the organisersas to whether the aims and purpose of the enterprise had been fulfilledwas answered. Many visito?s returned not once, but twlce and three times.The 1ocal children came daily and made interestir:g comment with such remarksas rr!ile couLd not remember it all, so we had to come to look again". It'ras refreshi-ng to note that the youngsters were soon looking with an enquiringgaze and asking useful questions, in the nean time, learning to look andnot to handle the exhlbits. And it is hoped that eVery visitor tookadvantage of this opportunity to use the material of such historical- interestand rarity to make for himself his personal panorarna of the Limestone Villageof Brassington, Derbyshire.

D. H. ChandlerThe Colurnbels of DarIey Neth_er HaIl Manor. Ernest PaufsonDerbyshire Miscellany Vol.V Part III. Spring 197C.

Sadly, I see that Derbyshire Mi.scellany has now come round to thetotally inefficient method of references. I pick tltis very good andinteresting article, as recently f had to look into the Colunrbels. Ionly required a brief note, my manuscript is finished and the Columbelsno longer coneem me, but had I been doing reaL research on the Co1umbelsthe references would have been useless.i.e. page 165 Ref. rAdd. MSS 65871. This appears as though it nay be'Add.. MSS. .6687 f.149r according to Derbyshire Arehaeological Jorrnalxlo$ (f9r5) p.I?3-I76. By Coxis eal*ndarirlg there ar" iO9 folios in 66S?.

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Facing p.170, fllustration,; Q16 Darley Hal1, for this I carurot find anyreference except that it is tfrom an estate plan in the British lvhrseumr.That is so bad a reference I do not consid,er it to be a reference at all.

Page 168 R9f:-l(Add.llss 6667 B.M.)r, according to Derbyshire ArchaeologicalJoumal )fiXIII (rgri) pp.17B-I45, Md MSS G56T has 786 folits.

ff anyone not 1ivfug in London wanted. Xerox copies of documents referred,to, it wourd be impossible to obtain then froui these references.

I d'eplore the lack of references in other articles, although I realisethat at the moment this is rthe fashiont. I call it rmodern inefficiency',for quite certainly laek of correct references hampers any further researchj:rto the subject of articles. Surely one of the aims of an artiele 1s thehope that other peopl-e will build on it.

Nel1ie Kirkl:am

SECTION NEWS

or Mareh r4th 1970 to follow up the publication of his book, Ilr. R.Johnson gave a talk to the Local History Section entitled I'The Changing Faceof A1freton".

Alfreton dates from about 500 AD when people entered. the area betweenIiylmeild street and the River Trent" They settled on the ridge of landsouth of the River Grivel - a name of Scandinavian origin - rro, calledAlfreton Brook, where there was a chain of weIls, giving ample fresh water,and the area offered. agricultural advaatages.

Eventually, owing to a population increase, the younger sons moved.away, and the hanlet of Riddings arose, then Birchwood and swanwick.

so far agriculture had been the only industry, but in the late lJthcentuzxr it was found that the Alfreton area was rich in coal.

In lL74 the Lord of the Manor of Alfreton fotmd.ed the Abbey of Beauehiefand endorved. it with Land around. Arfreton - nearry a third of the manor.When the coal was discovered. the Lord of the Manor and the Abbot of Beauchiefas two distinct landlords developed the coal miling industry.._

The second. great influence in the district was the turnpike road era.JLd4hOutram was a man of outstand.ing worth and his work of Uuifaing roadsradiating from Alfreton to Rylareild Street, Mansfield, Tibshelf and Nottinghannace Alfreton the second town in the county in the l8th century.

So far as the j.ron trade is eoncerned, Riddingsthis, and to house the increasing population the newwas fo:med in the late 19th century. Somercotes ispicturesque, with a population in excess of AlfretonA

became the centrs fortownship of Somercotesdevoid of anythingas a result of the coal

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and iron lndustries.

Progress in Alfreton stopped some time ego, and this gives it anadvantage at the present time for development as a publlc amenity area inmid'-DerbYshire

v. M. Bead.smoore

0n May 9th 1970 some members of the Loca1 HiEtory Section traveLlerfby coach to visit places of interest in the High ?eak and over the bord,erinto Cheshire.

After travelling through Chatsworth Park, CaX.ver, Stoney Miridleton,we left the eoach in the yard. of Chapel South Station on the Buxtor:,-Manchester1ine, and walked to Bank HaIl.

Near the Lodge were the renaj:ns of a corn n111 - probably for the useof the estate. The Hall has had a ''raried history - it nas owned i.n thel8th sentuly by Squire Frith who was a great hunt$nan and made his wealthby trains of pack-horses. Duri-ng the first world war it lras occupied byGerman prisoners of war, and dr.rring the second war had evaeuees fromWestcliff . The Ha1l is empty at present, so rre were able to go insi.d.e tolook at the dining room which is very ornate. The lower half of the walls&:s oak parrel1ed, and the upper hal"f iire covered with frescoes. An elaborateplaster ceiling is dated, 1781, and half of the large turv window is of stained.glass depicting numerousr wil-d flowers.

CastLe Naze, the site of an iron age fort, wEs rr€xt on the itinerary,and climbing upwards we heard the cuckoo, the first time this year for nanyof us. By this time the hills were shrouded. in rnist, and only the moreadventurfuu-.os climbed to the top.

At Chapel Parish Church, ded.cated. to St. Thomas Becket, the Vicargave us an interesting account of its history, and Mrs. Bellhouse of Coombswho had taken charge of the party at the stati-on, had arrange,l an exfribitionof the parish records in the chancel.

Tea at Coombs was the next stop - very welcome after an early Iunch.

then on again through trfh,bley Brid.ge, past the basin of the Peak Forestcanal, and New Mi1ls, to strines, and a d.erightful wark by the trrrbulentRiver Goyt, which is crossed by an elegant single arched stone bridge builtby Sanlrel O1d}<row. Passing Strawberry Hill we were observed. from the housewith great suspicion, and very shortly afterwards came to the Goyt Viad.uct -a wonderful plece of engineering - which carries the railway l-ine betweenI[ew ]{i11s and l.{arpIe, opened in 1865.

Bottoms Hal-1, now a farrn, is reputed.ly the Apprentiees llouse to theniill Oldlarow built in 1792 with the financial help of Rjcharrl Arlcroright.This was burnt down in the l89Ors. The dams are now calIe,1 the Romar Lakes.

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Arriving at Marple Bridge, we had a quick look at the lime kilns alsobuilt by 01d1crow in the 1790rs, employing Derbyshire lead miners as masons.Owing to recent housing development, it is now very diffieult to see thefalse front of the ki.lns built to simrlate an ancient castle.

V.M.B.

O: Saturday. Jtme 20th menbers of the Local History Section of theSociety travelled into the north east of the county, of which many fromthe south of the county have entirely a wrong impression. Tt was a perfectsumler day and the idea of grimness, slagheaps, etc., was quickly dispelIed..The following ertract from an atricle in the June Derbyshire Life andCountrysid.e is of interest:

ilThis is fertile naterial and upon the flat lands east of Bolsoverone is inmediately arrare of the great slgr gbove the large fields, aware thatthis is arable country with more affinity to parts of Nottinghamshire andLincolnshire than to much of Derbyshire lying to the west.rr

NIrs. Webb joined. us at Chesterfield. and was our guide for the variousplaces we visited. The first stop was at Newbold to look at the Rc,manCatholic Chapel. Sjaee the huilding of a rlew church nearby this is nowused. as a store room for the Scouts, &d the Perpendicular windows blockedup. The doorway has an almost completely defaced Norman tympanum and thepediment with its pinnacles is evidently part of a restoration. Members ofthe Eyre family are still interred in the chapel.

At 'ltrhittington Revolution House the Curator gave us a short accoqnt ofits history - how the Earl of Devonshire and others met in 15BB to plot therevolution against King James rr jn order to put tfilliam and Mary on thethrone. There is now displayed a very i.nteresting collection of Whittingtonglass, as well as the furnishings of the 17th centr.rry.

Or the way to T,angwith Bassett church we saw on the slgr-line therrins of Sutton Scarsdale Ha1I which the Ministry of Public Buiklirg andl'florks has recently accepted as a gift from Mr. Reresby Sitwe11, and willpreserve as an ancient monument. Then passing Bolsover Castle we nertvisited the Parish Church of Upper Langwith. Ded.icated to the Holy Cross,the church dates from about the eleventh century. On the outside wa11,within the porch, can be seen the remains of a Scratch Dial or Mass Clock,and still outside, at the East end is a sepulchral s1ab, eoffin shaped and.bearing an incised cross, chalice and book, said. to be of the tbirteenthcentury. Inside the church on the south waIl of the neve, a piscina indieatesthe original position of the altar.

After tea at the Devonshire Arms, Langwith, on the way to Cuclmeythrough the }4eden Va1ley, we passed a cotton miil built by Arkwright. Thehouses in this part of the courtry are bui-l+ with magnesium limestone, mdin the mil} complex the Managerrs House is now a farm, and along the road.were two terraces of cottages originally for the mi11 workers.

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Tn Cuclarey, which was part of the Abbey of Thurgarton, we visitedthe mill now used as a Church of hrglarld primary school for children in thesurounding district. We were abl-e to go inside and among: other thlngssaw the trap door in evirlently what was the first floor ceilitg leading tothe roof sp,'rce where the apprentices would sleep. The nd-ll d.am vras abeautiful stretch of water with four sma1l boys witir rod and line and acryptic comrnent - t'Yes its very nice, but theref s no fishl".

From Cuclcrey to Sooi<l:o1me, the last visit of a very enjoyable outing'to look at the church and Hall- Farm. The architecture of the outside ofthe church was mainly perpendieular, but inside it was a oonderfuJ- exampleof the i{orrnan period. In the sanctuary was a rare exalnple of a bcautifullycarved Derbyshire chair.

v.I{.8.

0n Jgk-g$-1970, the Local History Section ar::anged an eveningexcursion to Sandiacre and Risley.

Sandiacre church, dedicated to St. Giles, stands on a rock i:e a positionoverlooking the Erewash i'alley more in keeping with a castle than a church.

I.r the churchyard is a child's rroffin of the Saxon period, and it ismost probable that there was a Saxon chrlrch on the site. The presentbuilding is in two most definite styles of architecture - the na.ve of theNorman period and the ad"ded chaneef of practically the same leqgth, in theDecorated period. The buttresses of the chanceL have very ornate crocketedpinnaeles, and the stonework of the windows has recently been well restored.The chancel was ad.ded in 1342.

Inside the church various alterations have been carried out recently -the floor of the nave, and the lighting have been renewed, and the fontmoved to the south-east colner of the nave. In the sanctuary floor arefour graves of the Charlton family, who combined farning r,rith their clericalduti-es.

There is stil1 the Church Farm, with cow shecls cut into the solid rockon which the church stands. The tithe barn near"by is in a very sarl stateof repair and it is estimated. i-t would cost C16,000 to put it in ortle,r, butthe timber frarr.ework inside was wonderful .

At Risley we visited All Saints church built it L591 by the Willoughbyfanily, with a north aisle added in 1841.

The Lat:n House to the east of the chureh, was built ln 1705 as themasterf s house for the schools. ft is of br:-ck with stone qrroi-ns andgrotesque faces on the keystones of the wi-nd.ows. fhe house h.as been enptyfor four ye$rs and has suffered a good deal of vandalism, but lt is now

being restored and renovated at a cost of .C10,000, towarCs which the RisleyEducation For.yrdation now consisting of l-6 trustees ilers reeeive<l va.rjous gratrts.

-2u-

t58r.}[e were able to go inside the schools nert door, which were founded in

v.M.B.

BOOK NEWS

The Industrlal Archaeo-logr olDerbysh:Lre by Frank Nixon, 2!!30 illustrations in the tert. David and Charles Ltd. 1969 5

ppo/

. JJ plates-d.

Although this book has already been widely and enthusiastieally reviewedin many journals, it seems fitting that it should be noted in the Miscellanyfor the author has been closely connected with this publication fron itsearliest days.

A professional engineer, Mr. Nixon has brought to bear on the historyof the industry of Derbyshire an independent view point, He has cor:rblnedhistorical studies with the energ'y to visit the actual sites where eventstook p1ace. the book provides a refreshing change from the more usualworks on industrial history, for the author sees Derbyshire as a balancedentity in which geo1ory, geography and the people have bombined to forn apatten:. which leads from one development to the next.

Throughout this story, the techaical d,etails of which are describedwith a re"re and welcome simplicity, there runs a strong trad.ition of ability.-ft comes as something of a surprise to learn how many present Derbyshirefirms have been in existen.ce for more than one hund.red years, and thatalmost all our major industries have been carried on at one time or anotherin a county of only 1,000 sguare rdLes with a population of around. onemillion people.

The book is an indispensible comparison for all, those who are interestedin industrial history or who on their trips into the love1y Derbyshirecowrtrysid.e wish to increase their lcnowled.ge of the county and so arld totheir enjolment "

J.H.

o1s by Marion Johnson,David and Charlcs l,imi-ted, 1970, 5 -d

Two good reviews of this book have already appeared in l-ocal papersi.However, the writer wishes to mention passage,s not previousry quoted.

In Chapter 1, entitled. I'The Charity Sehoofstt, the author d.escribes thescargill schcol at west Hallam. This was a charity school begun in 1664under the will of the Rev. J. Scargi1l. By his bequest a farm at Eastwoodwas bought for fl540, and the rents of the first two years were used. for the3uilding, and the school opened within two years of his death in 1664.

-)Ac,-

Charitable Institutions such as this fonned the basis of the edueationalsystem throughout the cou::try. the benefaetors were attenpti-ng to meet theneed.s of th.eir vi.lIagers, and thereby provid^ed. the first educational systemon a large scale. Benefacto::s were also helped by the S?'CI{, founded in1698 wrth the aims of publish:-ng Bibles, Pr':;rsr Bodks, and"::eli.gicus tracts,and. of stimulating the found.atiotr .rf Charity Schools. The suppcsed loweringof moral standards at the end of the ItrIIc was the prime cause for thefound.ing of the SPCK, and consequently the schools concent:a.ted on the moralredemption of the scholars.

In the year 1800 Derbyshire had 74 Charity Schools in its vil-lages,fairly evenly distributed over the County. Tho benefactors left theirmoney or their ]and fcr the erec'bicn and maintenance of the schcol- buildingand for the payment of the school naster or mistre$s. The buildingstraditionally included. a schoolroom and a house for the tetcher. Thequality of the structures can be judged by the fact theJ many of thesebuildings were sti1l in use in the late XIXc, and 1n some cases even later.

Many Charity Schools by the terms of their endowments had. to teach acertaln number of free scholars - at Barrow {2 }{s. for B girls and atMelbourne €]0 for 12 child.ren. €16 vras to be paid quarterly to the masterat Quarndon for 20 children; out of this he was instru-cted to spend *34

on books, paper, pens and lnk. The master at Sr,ra:trrick had to providecoals as well. At Mapperley the master reeeived. S5 per annum to l,eachreadlng, writing and a::ithmetic to rall the pcrr child::en of Mapperleywhose parents think proper to send then to school. t Not all parentstthought prcperr. .\t tr'indern the number of clriidren varied. from 20 to 50,reflecting the need for child fabour cn the farms.

School m::.sters usually took paying prrpils as well as the free scholarsto supplement their inccmes. The cha::jt;y at Kil]anarsh consisted. of ahouse given for use as a school hottse, rprcvi,"Lc,-l thatthe master or dameshould teach two poor child.ren to rqad the Brble for the rent of itr.

The minirm:m of curriculum was to Read. ft was more Llsual to f:nd somereligious in.struction in acltlition to re:cling: rTo Toad 1,:.31i-sh r,nrl. to iearr:the Catechi-snr. Sometimes the at,ove irras. ]:rovi.-rcd f.i:ee, but r.^rr:iti:.Lg arldaccorrnts were charged, especially where thc r:lsterrs salary wfs messre.Moral a:rd religi.or:s i-nstmction took a large sha.re of the eurricr:}ur.Incloctrination in the principles of the Chrirch of England. was frcq-,-.-ently l[6mai-n ctrject of the endowments. At l4icklecr-er the naster;tould attenJ tothe chi-l-o-:r:en's morals" At Norton the chilcren shou.ld be toid how heinousthe vices of swearing and lying are.....an,l- ";:rat tiiorr shorr"lid be p,11ri-*5"Useverel-y if guilty after a second admonition. There was always the fearof educatjng the lower orders above thei.r station, le:.ding to unrest andana::chy. ?he 'rriter corrnents tirat rit wolilo be hn::ir. to see hclr sc lirniteda curricul.un could give the l-abourinq poori narlr a-ilrh.i-tions for o'cher oecupationsor ryry hope of thcmr. All these Dei"rryshire s,-rhocls wsrq sonfcrnirrg to theorrlers of the SFCK, from which therc 1s a fasc:i-na'cing quotatron: rBriefly,

-^ t_6-

they had to teach tme spel1ing, to write a fair hand. legibLy, the grounlsof arithnetie, and girls to knit and eew and mend, to fjt them for Se:rriceand apprenticeshipst. 3ut there is rnuch more to j.t tha.n that" The lengthof school life is llluminatett by this quotation: 'when poor childrcrr cou.r.d.readily read. the Bible, they shourd. be taken away, and cihers yowrger andnore ignorant should supp)-y their placest. Another qaotation tells us -b::at'the naster shourd be a member of the church of England, of a sober life,that he be of meek temper and humble behaviour, tha'L he have a genius i'orteaching, and be approved by the i.{inister of the parishl.t'.

Sefore 1800 charity schools had been supplemented by factory and.den'oninatlonal schools. lill:en sehools from aLL sotrces stiil. proved. i:r.adequaieto meet demands, the Governrnent gave help ,i-n the fom of annua-L g:r:ats.Even so a Bill to aid schools was d.efeated in 1820, but; in IBI] (note the year)Parliament approved a srun not exceedi.ng o20,o0o to be granted in aid orlPrivate S.l.bscr.tptions. tnl.ren (tat"=) tfru anount was increased. a Comrlj--LLeewas set [pi'to superi-:ntend eirperrd.iture. The ef'fect of the grant ]res toprove a great stimulus to 1ocal endeavour, for no grant was paid until halfthe estinated cost of hrilding a sehoor had. heen raised uy vo:.untarysubscriptlon. Two '','oIuntary societies begtrn work to provide a nati-on-widesystem, the British and. Foreign Schools Socie'by (the Lancastrian Society) sei;up many schools of nonconformist eharacter. The National Society wes theConfomist answer. Both societies laitl great stress on local effor-l.They differed slightly in teaching methods - the National .Soc-l.rty foiloweclAndrew Bel1ts Maclras system, and the British and tr'oreigrr Soc:"ety-took upJoseph Lances'berrs licni.torial System. we have here the oasis tr tnupattern for the nert 70 years leadrng up a.}nost to withi,r livlng rrienc:.y.rt is irrteresti::g to nc;e that .iosepjr rancaster boasted -lnal under hisMonitortal Systen it was possible for one naster to teach I,OOO trmpils, whileAndrew Be1l clajmed that one m.ester could supervise ten schools of-1,000pupils each if they we:'e in elose proxinity. With ',he ajd. cf these ;ocieriesmany parishes bui-Lt (:olnDLetely new schools. It rnay be t-:.a-i tire histo:.y ofI'Ielbourne is the riost interesting in thrs i'espect, ;,u-f 1.-;-:1ra;,s one shouidleave the reader to pursue this for himself in the book.

Some schools, e;'tr:,r.ia]Ilr those cr' ..iesleyan. fo,.-.datio:, hprL . :.ee sTstenwhich put the::r be3-,:n{ l.r.e, cap;ici:i. cf ,n-,ui, peolle-tr.,, ,;arr. 'i + tay beiateresting to not;e Lirai, at Asirbou.ne :.n 18o9, if oue pail 2.1.. a weerr th..children wrote on slater:. 'r)urr f or 7d,. ciiey progressec Lo ccpi,-ilool-s.

Duties o):'par:eatr; lrere ofter.L iist,:,J, includirLg the need t, co-operatcwith the teacher:" Sch.oo1 rtrles on pir-r1?tuaiity, nuter,l .-;.nce an,, elean,-i:1s..;gwere to be respec-re,i.,

fhe first Ed:.:-cal-r-on l:ct of I8?O and. i,he esr-'.:rbiishnr_.nt of Borrj S:hco1sj.s dealt with, and tj.rtrle are chaptexs on l,hr-, r1.,.,rr"" of -';eachers, l}tuethought is gi'irer, to l,{o:'iring Ohil_d.ren and. of,: i-h.eir dalr - rork a.:rt- schccltogether. lfo i.lsperr: of school life i.n the n:.,.^-r;ecr:ta,:;,;rturlf -rou_,"-4. arre.,.,to have been m--i-ssed, and Miss Johnson j.s 'bo be congi"ai;ui,,r;ec.: nn an ex.;.jJ--]-entpiece of work.

F.P.H.

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The Tnelve Parts of Derbyshire Volume 1by Hub Fublicatj.ons Limited 19?0 pricepost free. 0btainable fron Hub Publications Limited, Youlgreave, Bakewell,Derbyshire.

by Edward Boaden Thomas, zublished9/4. limp eover, 25/-d. hard eover,

For many years l/ir. Thonas had in mind the idea of a philosophicalrelating man's life and erperience to the land in which he lives. Itour good fortune that he has chosei: to base his poen on Derbyshire.

Taking the thene of "An English Shire under the SIgr; A lilicrocosmmind's eye" LlansfieLd is decided upon as the authentic starting point,a description of the Derbyshire circuit is given.

ilFroE itanfield to Bolsoverl',?rere coal-pits scar Scarsd.ale

Frono Bolsover to Beeley MoorAnd lean against the gale;

From BeeleJr ltoor to Kind.erscoutThat cumulus of peat;

From Kinderscout to Feak ForestAnd linestone under feet;

llrom Fealc Forest to LathkilL Dalelr]}ere clear the l.laters run;

From Lathkill Dale to TissingtonA11 quiet urder the sr.n;

Frou Tissington to Longfordand every field is green;

From Longford to Repton'sLong cultivated scene.

Prorn Repton to DerbyAlI Saints and sinners g^;

From Derby to ShardlowIlhere the broad l.raters flonr;

From Shardlow to SmalleyAnd coal-pits once again;

From Smalley to ALfretonAnd pits possess the plain;

From Alfreton to Alport Stone:She trail sha1l tlrere be erded

kllth everybcdy exercised/urd none f hope offerded.'l

poemis

in theand

Volune I deals rnrith the four most northerly regions of the County in

-21€.-

10] pages, mostly in blank verse. The eounty border is crossed. where:

frThe border strearn is the River Meden,So the nap says, but surely no riverWhen last I saw it, coming from Skegby,But a stiil brook in a shallow va11eyJust out of sight of the colliery tipsAnd so by a snal1 margin pastoral. "

In the first part the journey is through P1eas1ey, Nether rangwithand Cresswell to Streatley and so by Stretton and [ibshelf back to the Medenriver bound-ary. There is a d,escription of sutton scarsdale, so ratery inthe news:

rrThe roofless mansion wal-ts in solitudeDishonoured by gipsy elder bushesThat make a casual rude encanpnentUnder that proud Corinthian facadeil.

At Shuttlewood -

"A great co1liery left us as relictThe pink mountain to startle travellersrt.

but so rapidly are changes taking place all over the county that alreadythis pink tip has been entirely remwed.

So on to Sarlborough rfiich rrlike a swan floats on a green plain of herownlr.

The second part covers the area west from stretton throrBh wooley,[ansIey, Mat]-ock and Darrey Dare to Beeley and chatsworth, Baslow, carverand Grindleford to rtarrive in the end at Hathersage town'r.

There is a charming description of a part of the North Derbyshireeountrysid.e:

I'fhe way we take goes down by a pine woodTo where a wandering chiId. of a streanDances and sings anong sand and heather:It is Hipper Sick, and the first we rn€ui.;/orong many such these upland.s over.I renember many a year agoWe came here once on a day in summer.It was warm but the grey clouds were leaningOnt of the slqy and were hangirg overA copse of pines that winter had ravagedThe wird was away and the trees stood stlll.A scatter of rain settled in the dust.

-2L*

We who were travellers out of the southIlad eager eyes for that boulder-bounledAnd sandy-bottomed strean of the xooorland,Heather-surrourded arrd pipit-haurited,Its scr.rrying waters speckled with rain.Our eyes had never before encorinteredThat Lonely place yet it seemed familiar,Its liberty ours, and we no strangers. rr

The third part of Derbyshire is a mountain mass and the story continuesto tell of Dovestone Tor and ilowden Resenroir and the high land throughBleaklow Moor and Longdendale down towards Charlesworth and New Mi11s andto Castleton and Hope.

rfFirst of the mountains you set your eyes onIn the long succession is Stanage Edge,ltself a wa11 between levels of moorShoring the upper above the 1ower,A mountain wall with a smile on its faceWhen praised. by light from the westerirg sunYet suddenly grey when the sun goes dovrn.',

And so by Bamford Edge to the Derwent:

rrThis Derr,trent, iust escaped f rom resenroirs,For ever ready to burst into flood,Is the one river above all othersIndispensably part of Derbyshire.It joins by a thread the poles of the shireAnd unites lihe a seam the east anl west.Nothing proper to the Lore of rlversLacks a place in the scenic serialOf Derwent's rapid descent frrrm the hills:Moorlands of 3leaklor^r on which it tumbLes,Reservoirs deep in a woodland setting,The cultured areua of Chatsworth Park,Popular Matlock, and the honseshoe weirAt Belper cotton rd1I, Darley Abbey,St. Maryts Bridge, and then the acquaintanceWith industrial 1ife, potrer and chemicals,Finally the destined apoca13ryse,Merging with Trent 1n the zone of canals.t!

In describing the hil1s of this gegion -

'rThere is lfin Hill with its comb on its headArd across the valIey there is Lose HillThe tapering point that begirrs the ridgeThat makes the divide that everyone strid,esSoneti-r'e or other if ever they walk.'r

-25U

And -rrUpon Mam Tor the wond erful matterIs less the mountain than the northward viewllhere Kinderscout of the ramparts edgesThat wears the drenching clouds on its forehead.WiLl bar and defy you across Edale."

0f B1eaklow Mr. Thomas writes -rr3leak1ow, more a monster than a mowrtain,Has triple heads and a shaggy body.I sha11 cllmb no more on its moorland flanksfhrough bog and tussock to the roclqy heights,Not for the sake of a gloomy vision0f Longdendal-e and the endless PenninesStretching away to the obstinate north.There is always the hill you might have climbedHad the tine allowed and yow will be firm.Discretion perhaps discounted. your chance;0r accident blighted the hopeful start;0r anything, everythirg, blocked. the pathThat led to the mountain that reared its head.There are rnen who stroll in the dales at d.uskl,Jho shun the shade unforgivingly castBy mountair:s unconquered in shjre or mind.t'

So eomes the fourth and last part in this volume. Earlier Iiobbes hasbeen considered. in his relatj-ons with the north of the County and WillianCavendish, Duke of Devonshire. ("This luelsr 1ad of the Restoration was bornto serve and adorn the nation:-----if his noon was dark with cloudy weatherby sunset the old accustomed glory, suffused a slry that had cleared altogether.William Cavendish is bound. to impress all for whom nothirg sueceeds U-ke suecess',).-Also, Philip Kinder and his connection with lerbyshire about which Mr. Thornashas written in a previous l{iscellany is referred to in some d.etai1. Thefor.rrth part also has its ro11 of notable men:

'rMystics, mechanics, mi11-owners, miners,Men open-hearted and. men taciturn,Spend.thrifts, misanthropes, saints and. charlatans.Fron among them all f choose Mompesson,He who confined the pestilence to EyamAs if to lock himself inside a cellWith a rnad mr:rderous beast at elbor,v.A gloom of enormous affliction fellAnd the cause was darkly seen if at allBut the plague that nothing he did could stayWas yet by his hardihood kept contained."

-251-

There is a description of the limestone cor,inty which predominateshere:

ttlimestone is a rock various as 1ife,SJ:arply interrupted by deep gorges,Riddled with caverns ard urrd.ergrourtd strearnsThat enter or leave from courses unlctown,And containing unpredictable veinsLY mj-neral-s fit for strar:ge artifj-ce.These are the vagaries of its own natureBut then like ].jfe it suffers invaeions:Roads and railways appear out of nowhere,hrgineers' tururel-s and shafts for minerslQuarries erpose its bareness of beJ-ng."

This poem is delightful to read and ful1 of interest, md the readerwill want to follow in I{r. Thomas's footsteps and try to see the countrysidethrough his eyes.

A.A.I\T.

Unfinished Thouehts by A'rus, publi;hed July 1970.

In his introduction "Avusn who is a member of the D"A,S., states thatthe book has been written erpressly for the young people leavlng our schoolsand colleges to-d.ay. The thoughts, those which came to him as he l.rokefrom sIeep, are of man and his purpose and duty to God. rrI believe nowas I did in my teens, that it is part of my task in life to help to makethe world a better place than f found it. This is the d.ream of youth ofall ages and because it is still alive and active in my life I feel thatafter a lifetime's enperienee of thinking some of the same kind of thoughts,$hat you are now thinking and having consistently tried. to put them intopractice I may have something helpful to say to my youthful colleag-res ofto-dayrr" Copies may be obtained. frrcm Mr. Philip M. Roblnson, R1'e tr'1att,Chesterfield..

Chr-rreh Bulldines in lllorth Derbyshire and South Yorkshire by B. Bunber,p"bli"h"d S"pt"*ber 1970 "t lO/-d. per copy by B. Bunber, Cartledge Lane,IloLmesfield., near Sheffield.

A-AgieQt Book"list on the enary qlthe ]870 Education Act publishedby the Derby Borough Library pub. August 19'/0. Free"

A useful list but of limited range.

East Midlands Bibl Vol.B No.2 1970.

This issue is especially useful as listing the publications of theCounty Record Office.

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Derbv" fts and Propress by A. W. Davison first published 1905.Reprint by S. R. Publishers Ltd. pricLinited, Cathed.ral Bookshop, Derby.

Note: S. R. Publishers Linited. have also reprinted, price 03 Js. 0d.P1 + t Darwin publishedJ. Johnson, Derby 1797. Ihis book pp.1 ed by it{r.

n. C. Smith ln his interesting article on Erasmus Da:rrinrs School atAshbourne, Derbyshire Miscellany Vo1.V No.1 1959.

e 55/-d. available from Clulows

HOh' TO YTA(E A QUILI PE.[(Instnrctions in an Etghteenth Century Marnral)

fhose qul]Is, calleil 'fseeondsrt being long and round in the barrelare best. First scrape off the superfluous Jeurf with the back of thepen-knife, most on the back of the quiI1 that the slit nay be the fi"neerand without the "ganders'steeth.l', as the roughness in thL slit is cal1ed,Nor1, 9ut the qui1l at the end har-f way thror:gf, on the back part, and then,i|i**g up. t|9 be1ly cut the other half or part quite ttrrough viz. aboutt" or a.Lmost t" at the end of the quil1 which wirl then *pp"*, forked.Then enter the pen larife a 1lttre in the baek pe;"1,, and trren, putting thepeg of the pen lmife haft, or the end of another quiIl, :into'trre uactnotch, and holding the thr:mb pretty hard on the back of the qui11, ashigh as the slot is to be, with a sudden quick switch force ;p i;; srit.It must be sudden and smart that the slit

.uray be cleaner. Nexi, shape thequiI1 to a fine point, place the inside of the nib on the thumb naiL andenter the Imife at the extremity of the nib and cut it through a rittresloping. Then with an almost clor,n:right cut of the }o:ife cut off thenib and by other proper cuts of the lcrife finish the pen, bringing itlnto a handsome shape and proper form. Do not neddle now witf, tf,e cutby trinning or fine cuts as this wilr cause a roughness, The breadthof the nib must be proportional to the breatlth of the body or downrightblack strokes of the letters in whatever hand written, smaLl_ or

Little wond-er that the steel pen nib was described as a 'tboon and. ablessing to menrr. Made to suit any style of hand writing, ready forfitting into a holder, easily clear,ed after use with a "pJn wip"l',, itwas d.urable and cheaply replaced.

Reginald C. Snith